Attached
by Tracy-Lou
Summary: Harry and Ginny are fed up of Ron and Hermione’s fighting so they decide to use invisible handcuffs to make them get along.
1. Arguments and Pondering

**Title: **Attached

**Author: **Tracy_Lou

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or any other character. 

**A/N: **This story is about Harry and Ginny being fed up of Ron and Hermione's fighting so they decide to use invisible handcuffs to make them get along.

Chapter one – Arguments and Pondering

Harry's POV

"Well if you don't like it you know where you can stick it!" Hermione yelled. "Why don't you ever listen!? If you would just let me explain" Ron said. Hermione ignored him. "Fine!" Ron snapped. "Fine" Hermione retorted and they both ran up the staircases and slammed their doors. 

Yet again Hermione and Ron had had another argument and as usual, I would be the one to pick up the pieces. I'm in my sixth year at Hogwarts and those two are still acting like they're 11. After everything we've been through together, defeating Voldemort, meeting Sirius, getting used to Voldemort's return and saving Sirius from being killed by Bellatrix. After all of that, you'd think they'd get along, but no.

I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. The amount of times people have left the room because of them. None of it makes sense; they were fine with each other with only the occasional argument now and then but look at them now! Ah, I wish there was something I could do about it.

At that moment, I heard someone walking down the stairs. I hope it's not Ron coming to complain about Hermione, but luckily it wasn't. It was Ginny.

I've never been happier to see her. "Hi, Harry" she said in an annoyed voice. She wasn't annoyed with me was she? What did I do? "Hi Gin, are you ok?" I asked, hoping she'd say: 'yes Harry I'm fine and so are you'. Wait where did that come from?

"I'm ok, I guess. I've just had Hermione complaining about Ron to me, she really can go on" Ginny replied. "Ron's the same really. But I wouldn't worry about it, they will probably make up in the morning, they always do". 

"Yeah, I hope so" Ginny said as she sat down next to me. I looked at her and realised how much she'd changed. She wasn't all shy and weird around me anymore, which was a plus and she was now 15 and looked more grown up to say the least. 

"I'm kind of tired, I think I'll go to bed" I said, stifling a yawn. "Ok, see you in the morning" Ginny replied. 

I walked up the staircase and quietly opened the door to our dorm, hoping Ron was fast asleep but he wasn't. "Can you believe her, Harry? I was just trying to talk to her rationally and she goes off on one! Why is she always doing that? It is so annoying! And another thing-" Ron began. This went on for quite a while and by the time he looked like he was done, I was already washed, dressed and in bed.

"Also, she's always going on and on about stuff I don't even care about or I'm too tired to hear! Don't you just hate it when people do that?" Ron asked. "Yeah, it's very annoying" I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice, which Ron didn't seem to notice. 

"Look Ron, I'm going to go to sleep now and I think you should too, we have class in the morning" I said. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for listening mate. Goodnight" Ron replied. "Night" I said while I pulled the curtains around my four poster. 

I laid there in the dark feeling very tired and quite irritable. But I had learnt to control my rage after what happened last year and I have turned into quite a calm person. But I won't stay calm for long if Ron and Hermione have another argument, which they will. Maybe there's something I could do about it. But I dunno, at the moment, I don't really want to think. I'm going to sleep.

Ginny's POV 

I watched Harry's retreating back as he walked up the stairs. About two years ago I would have been very happy that I could just sit and talk to him. But that time has passed, I am over him and now we're just friends. 

I quite like being a fifth year; people treat you with more respect and don't treat you like a little kid. Well, not everyone treats you like that but most do. How many times have I said treat? I think I'm strange sometimes with the unimportant things I think about. Never mind, I guess that's just my nature.

I do wish there was something I could do about Ron and Hermione though. Ron's my brother and Hermione's a good friend and I hate seeing them arguing. It must be worse for Harry though, he has to put up with them all the time, it must be difficult. 

Maybe there's a way to force them to get along. At the moment, they can completely ignore each other and walk off if they want to. I ponder, I mean I wonder whether there's something me and Harry can do about it. I can't be bothered to think about that now though, I'm too tired. I'm going to bed.

Harry's POV 

It's morning again. Another full day of lessons, I hope I have my first defence against the dark arts lesson with a new teacher today. I've already seen her and she seems ok, hopefully. It's only 7:30 so I have enough time for a shower before breakfast. 

Ah, that's better. Now I'm clean and refreshed something Snape has never experienced. I wonder if Ron is up. Nope, still sleeping soundly. I'd better wake him up though even if it means another ramble about Hermione from him. 

"Ron, wake up!" I said while I hit him gently on the arm. "Wha? Who there?" Ron asked sleepily. "It's Harry; breakfast is soon, you better get up" I replied. Ron sat up slowly and stretched. "Ok Harry, I'll meet you in the common room in about ten minutes" Ron said. 

I walked down the stairs and saw Hermione sitting there. Uh oh, she's not going to ramble on as well is she? "Hiya, Harry" she said cheerfully. "Hi" I replied. I sat down next to her and there was silence for a while. "So… are we waiting for _Ron_?" Hermione asked, emphasising on 'Ron'. 

"Er yeah, he said he'd be down in about 10 minutes" I replied. "Ok, good" she said tonelessly. Ron appeared at the staircase about 5 minutes later. Me and Hermione stood up to greet him, well I did. "Hi Ron, ready for breakfast?"  I asked. "Yeah" Ron replied absent mindly. 

"Ron" Hermione said with no emotion. "Hermione" he replied. I looked at them both with me standing in the middle, wondering what I should say. "Come on, let's go". 

We walked down to breakfast with only me making conversation. When we arrived in the Great Hall, I sat down next to Neville with Ron on my other side. Hermione chose to sit next to Neville instead of Ron. Ginny entered the Great Hall a few minutes later. I smiled at her and she smiled back and took a seat next to Hermione. 

The timetables were handed out and I had a look at my lessons. "Oooh we have Defence against the Dark Arts first" Hermione said. "Wow how exciting" Ron said sarcastically. Hermione ignored him but looked a little annoyed. People nearby seemed a little confused but Harry changed the subject. 

"We have Potions this afternoon" I said irritably. I heard Neville give a soft groan. "Don't worry, Neville, if Snape says anything, just ignore him" Hermione said reassuringly. "I'll try" Neville choked. 

Once we had finished our breakfast, we made our way to Defence against the Dark Arts. Our new teacher wasn't there yet. The three of us sat in the middle row, just in case she was as bad as Umbridge was. 

When the whole class had settled, everyone waited patiently. A few minutes later, a woman entered the room. She looked like she was in her early 30's and had shoulder length dark brown hair and green eyes. She was quite pretty but I'm not really into older women. She smiled at us when she saw us. 

"Hello everyone, my name is Professor Sapphira and I am your new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher". She started to explain what kind of work we'd be doing this year and asked questions about what we had already done. "Boggarts? Really? How fascinating! Who was your teacher?" she asked.

"Professor Lupin" Parvati answered. "Really? I know him quite well, he's a good friend of my sister" she replied. The rest of the lesson wasn't too bad and Harry thought Professor Sapphira was a good teacher.

Potions were bad as usual. Today we learnt about sleeping potions, I've had a few of them in the six years I've been here. After the lesson, Ron and Hermione had another argument. It was very annoying. We all went down to dinner once all our lessons were over and I decided to sit next to Ginny.

"They had another argument" I told her. "Oh no, that can't be good. Look Harry, I've been thinking and I have an idea how we can stop all the arguments" Ginny said. "How?" I asked, interested. "Well, let's just say, them two will be very 'attached' to each other" Ginny replied.

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A/N: Did you like my first chapter? Please review and I'll write more.


	2. Sleeping Potion

Chapter two – Sleeping Potion

Ron's POV

What is the matter with her? I make one tiny mistake and she won't talk to me unless she's insulting me. No wonder Harry went to sit next to Ginny, he is probably sick of the two of us fighting all the time, I really should say sorry to him for that. 

But I suppose it doesn't annoy him that much because otherwise he'd say something wouldn't he? Who knows! Hmm I wonder where Hermione's gone; well I did just leave her and hurry over to the Gryffindor table without asking if she wanted to come. 

Who would have thought that one little thing could cause all these problems. Maybe it was my fault but she could have given me the benefit of the doubt. It reminds me of when we had that argument in our forth year over 'Vicky'. I really do hate that guy, even if I did get his autograph. I never knew why I disliked him so much, Hermione was acting as though I was jealous or something. But really, me jealous of him? Just because he's rich, famous and good with girls doesn't mean I envy him. 

But still why Hermione? She was fourteen years old! He was eighteen, what a pervert! But as you can see, I'm completely over it. Anyway, I'd better go and see if Harry is done talking to Ginny, maybe we could have a game of chess. 

When I walked over to them they looked very secretive. "Hi Harry, do you want to play some chess?" I asked. "Um, yeah sure. See you, Ginny" Harry replied. "Yeah bye, Ginny" I said. She smiled at me in a peculiar way before she said: "Bye!" 

Before we'd made it out of the door, Hermione came up behind us. "Hi guys, where you going?" she asked cheerfully. "To play chess, want to come?" Harry asked. Hermione looked at me. "Um no that's ok. I have loads of homework to do. See you later" Hermione replied before rushing off. 

Hermione's POV

I'm not sure why I rushed off like that; I guess it was because of Ron. Everything is different between us since 'the incident'. We are being a bit childish though I suppose him more than me. I haven't really got any homework to do; I only said that because I knew Ron wouldn't want me there. 

So now I'm bored and have no where to go. Maybe I should go and visit Hagrid for a while then go back to the common room and do a bit of reading. Yes, that seems like a good idea.  

When I got to Hagrid's door, I knocked gently. The door opened and there was Hagrid. "Ello Hermione, what are yer doin' 'ere?" "Oh I just thought I'd come and visit" I replied, smiling. "Where are Harry an' Ron?" Hagrid asked. "Playing chess, I had to go and do some homework so I left them to it" I replied. "I 'eard that yer an' Ron were havin' a few problems" Hagrid began while he closed the hut door and I took a seat by the fireplace. 

"Yeah, just a few. We keep arguing over nothing, I'm not sure why" I said. This reminded me of third year when I came to see Hagrid when Ron wasn't talking to me because of 'Scabbers' but this time I wasn't crying.  It seems so stupid now because that asshole Peter could have made me and Ron hate each other for ever. But maybe not because he forgave me after I hugged him; that was a quite a nice hug…

"So are yer gettin used ter bein' back at Hogwarts?" Hagrid asked. "Yeah, it's nice to be back" I replied. Me and Hagrid sat talking for a while till I decided it was time to go back. "Well thanks Hagrid, hope to see you soon" I said. "Same ter yer Hermione". We said our last goodbyes and I left walking in the dark with the stars and moon as my only light. 

I climbed through the portrait and appeared in the common room only to see Ron sitting staring into the fireplace. Not wanting to cause another argument, I crept past him and began to walk up the stairs, but one of them creaked. 

Ron stood up to face me. "Where have you been?" Ron asked angrily. "That's none of your business!" I replied. "There you go again being all defence! Why do you always do that?" Ron asked, his ears turning red. "Maybe if you stopped accusing me of things I wouldn't be so defensive!" I said. 

Ron threw his arm's up into the air. "Fine!" He stormed upstairs and left me all alone in the common room. I sat down in a chair and silent tears flowed down my cheeks.  

Harry's POV

I was up nice and early this morning so I could meet Ginny in the common room at 7:45 to discuss our plan. I quickly and quietly got dressed and tip toed down the stairs and saw Ginny waiting for me. She looked quite nice with her red hair over her shoulders in elegant curls. "Hi" I said. "Hiya, ready to start plotting?" Ginny asked. "Yes" I replied, laughing slightly. 

By the time we'd talked about everything, it was time for breakfast. We were going to meet in here at 12:45 to put our plan into action. I waited for Ron and Hermione to come downstairs and then the three of us went to breakfast.

They were both very quiet and I noticed that Hermione's eyes were slightly red, as though she had been crying recently. I was about to ask what was wrong until post arrived and she was too busy reading the Daily Prophet. 

The morning went by slowly. Luckily we didn't have potions today and had Charms and Transfiguration which wasn't too bad. By 12:30 I was in the Great Hall rushing my dinner so I could meet Ginny in fifteen minutes. Once I had finished, I checked my watch and saw that it was 12:40 so I said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and hurried up to the Gryffindor common room. 

When I got there, Ginny was no where to be seen but a few minutes later, she appeared. "Are you ready for this, Harry?" Ginny asked. "Yup, are you?" I asked. Ginny nodded and we both made our way to the Hospital Wing. I knocked on the door and a few seconds later, Madam Pomfrey appeared. 

"Hello, Mr Potter you're not injured again are you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Um no not this time. My friend Ginny here doesn't feel very well". Ginny clutched her stomach and said in a strained voice. "I think I had too many chocolate frogs. I already threw up in the toilet" Ginny said. "Oh dear, come with me and lay down. Potter I'm afraid you can't stay" Madam Pomfrey said. "Ok" I replied.

While she nursed Ginny by a bed, I went through into her office and looked around for a cabinet. I found an old, rusty one but it was locked so I said: "Alohomora" and the lock clicked open. I searched through the potions and saw 'Skele-Gro' and flinched slightly, remembering how awful it tasted. I eventually found about ten bottles of Sleeping Potion.

I opened my bag and pulled out an empty flask and filled it with a few drops from each bottle so Madam Pomfrey didn't become suspicious. When I knew I had enough I locked the cabinet and crept past Madam Pomfrey and Ginny. I gave Ginny the thumbs up on my way out. The first part of our plan was complete. 

Ginny's POV

It took a while until Madam Pomfrey decided I was well enough to leave. I practically ran to my next lesson. When all my afternoon lessons were over, I went to find Harry in the Great Hall. All we had to do now was use the sleeping potion and now it was my turn. 

I went back to the common room and filled two cups with sleeping potion and left them on a table. A few minutes later, Ron and Hermione entered bickering. I quickly picked up one of the cups and pretended to drink. 

"Hi Ginny, why are you on your own?" Hermione asked. "I was here with Colin but he had to rush off before he finished his drink" I replied, placing the cup back on the table. Ron and Hermione sat down next to each other on the sofa. A few minutes later, Harry entered the room with a rather flustered expression. 

"Ginny, I found some of your clothes thrown around outside of the Great Hall, I think you better come" Harry said. "Who could have done that?" Ron asked me with concern. "I'm not sure, I'd better go and see" I said. Before I left the room I quickly added: "Oh, you two can finish those drinks if you want". 

No ones POV

Ron and Hermione sat in silence for a while sipping their drinks. "Wait, this doesn't taste like-" Hermione began. But she never got to finish her sentence because she suddenly fell asleep on Ron's shoulder who was also fast asleep. 

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A/N: Hey what did you think? Please review!  


	3. Discovery

Chapter three – Discovery

Hermione's POV

Slowly I opened my eyes and viewed my surroundings. I was still in the Gryffindor common room and my head was on someone's shoulder. It was Ron. "Ahhh!" I screamed. Ron awoke suddenly and we both jumped up blushing a deep shade of red.

"Er… um… how?" Ron stuttered. "I…don't…er…why" I replied. Neither of us made any sense. We both turned and tried to run in opposite directions but fell over trying. "Huh?" Ron said. We both stood up and tried to go in different directions but we couldn't get further apart than about one metre. 

"What is going on?" I asked worried. "I'm not sure. Maybe we should do a spell" Ron suggested. "Good idea! _Reveala" I said. Just visible on our wrists was a pair of shiny, silver handcuffs. After a few seconds, they disappeared. We looked at each other with astonished expressions. _

"Who did this?" Ron asked. At that moment, Ginny and Harry walked downstairs sharing the same amused expression. "Hello! Did you have a nice sleep?" Harry asked cheerfully. "Did you do this?" I asked suspiciously. "Did we do what?" Ginny asked, looking innocent. 

"This!" Me and Ron tried to move away further than a metre apart but couldn't. "Oh that! Well, yes we did" Harry said as though it was nothing. "But why?!" I asked. "Because me and Harry are fed up of you two arguing all the time and dragging us into it" Ginny said. 

Me and Ron looked at the floor truthfully ashamed of ourselves. It was our own fault and we should have thought about their feelings. "Sorry" we both said together. "That's ok" Ginny and Harry said. "There is a way to release you" Harry said. Me and Ron looked up hopefully. "But we won't until you two stop arguing and realise why you became friends in the first place" Harry said. 

"I'm sorry we had to be so drastic but we didn't know what else we could do" Ginny said. "It's ok Ginny, Harry. We understand don't we Hermione?" Ron asked. "Yeah, we do" I replied. They smiled at us and left the room leaving the two of us by ourselves. 

"This sucks" Ron said. "Oh I'm sorry that you aren't happy to be handcuffed to me but we have to fix this" I replied. "I know but what can we do?" Ron asked. "Come on" I said, grabbing Ron's hand. "Let's go and see Professor Dumbledore. 

I dragged him out of the common room and we made our way to Dumbledore's office. "But Hermione it's embarrassing" Ron whined. I ignored him and carried on walking. Ron grabbed hold of a door handle.

"Don't be so childish, Ron" I snapped. 

"But what if people find out? Imagine what Malfoy will say" Ron said. "Who cares about what people say" I said. "I do!" Ron said. I sighed gently. "Ok, if you come I'll give you some ice cream" I replied. Ron still had a grip on the door handle. "You can't bribe me!" he said. "Fine! Chocolate ice cream with sprinkles" I said. "Add a flake and we have a deal" Ron said. "Deal" I replied and he let go of the door handle. 

We reached the stone Gargoyle and I realised I didn't know the password. Luckily, Dumbledore appeared in the opposite direction. "Hello" he said cheerfully. I smiled. "Hello sir, me and Ron need some help" I said. "Do you Miss Granger? Well, you'd better come to my office then" Dumbledore replied. 

Ron's POV

Dumbledore said the password (Chocolate Frog) and led us up the stairs and into his office. "What can I do for you?" he asked. I let Hermione do all the talking and became very interested in an oddly shaped lamp. 

"Well you see sir, our friends handcuffed us together and we were wondering whether you know the spell to get rid of them" Hermione asked. I looked at Dumbledore and noticed that he had an amused expression on his face; similar to the one Harry had this morning. 

"Indeed, yes I do. But let me ask, why did your friends do this in the first place?" Dumbledore asked. Well, let me see. It was because Hermione was being unreasonable and wouldn't listen to anything I had to say, that seems about right. "Because we keep arguing" Hermione began. That's the understatement of the year! "And they want us to get along" she continued. Well good luck to them! 

"I see… Well, it seems like a clever idea to me, don't you think?" Dumbledore asked. A clever idea! No it was not a clever idea! I can understand why they did it but under no circumstances was it a clever idea! 

"Well yes I suppose so" Hermione replied. What?! How could she say that? Or think that? Is she completely nuts or something? Well… maybe. "That settles it then! I'm very sorry Miss Granger, Mr Weasley but I think you're going to have to learn to get along" Dumbledore replied. Get on with her?! That won't happen in a hurry! "Yes, you're quite right sir. There's just one other thing" Hermione said. "Yes Miss Granger, what is that?" Dumbledore asked politely. 

"Well, how are we going to sleep?" she asked. Good point! There's no way I'm going to sleep in her bed! Unless… I started stroking my chin and looking towards the ceiling. "Well, there is a spare room in every house in case of an emergency of this kind. There is one opposite the sixth year boy's dormitories. The password is 'Chocolate Cake'. I thought of it myself" Dumbledore said. My head shot up at the mention of chocolate cake. "Thank you for your time sir" Hermione said. "My pleasure" Dumbledore replied. 

We both left his office and once we got away from the stone Gargoyle, Hermione rounded on me. "You could have been more helpful you know! Then maybe he would have released us" Hermione yelled angrily. "I thought you had everything covered. Besides, I don't think anything I said would have made a difference, I think he thought it was quite funny" I said calmly. 

Hermione stormed off then realised she was still attached to me so she grabbed my arm and dragged me to our first lesson. It was a strange day being with Hermione all the time. We had to tell our Divination and Astronomy teachers we wouldn't be able to attend their lessons and that we'd get the homework from our friends to catch up. 

As I expected, most of our year knew we were handcuffed together. Unfortunately, Malfoy knew. "So Weasley, I heard you have to be attached to this filthy Mudblood" Malfoy drawled. A hot anger was rising inside of me. How dare he call her a Mudblood! "Don't you dare call her a Mudblood you disgusting ferret. Also, I know that you bleach your hair!" I shouted. "What!? Goyle I can't believe you told!" Malfoy shrieked. He quickly ran away without saying another word.  

Hermione looked at me with astonishment and respect. "Thank you" she said softly whilst smiling sweetly. I smiled back. "Don't mention it". Did I just defend her? What is she going to think?! "How did you know Malfoy dyed his hair?" Harry asked. "I didn't, it was just a guess" I replied. The three of us laughed and made our way down to dinner. 

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A/N: Another chapter finished! What did you think? Please review! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. 


	4. Their new home

Chapter four - Their new home

Hermione's POV

After dinner, the three of us made our way to Gryffindor tower so that me and Ron could see our 'new home'. I said the password and we entered the common room. Instead of going up my usual staircase, I followed Harry and Ron up theirs and when we reached the sixth year boy's dormitories, I looked to my right. 

Instead of seeing a portrait as I had expected, there was a normal, wooden door. I said the password 'Chocolate Frog' and a click was heard from inside the lock and the door opened automatically. 

I stepped into the room first with Ron and Harry behind me. I gazed around the dimly lit room and was quite astonished. It was beautiful. The wallpaper was a deep red and there was a border of golden lions. The soft carpet was a dark blue and there wasn't a speck of dust upon it. The walls were surprisingly picture less. 

A little way in front of me was two four poster beds which were about half a metre away from each other. There was an extraordinary full length mirror close by and two desks right next to each other.

I stood there in awe but was snapped out of my trance when I was dragged forwards by Ron who went to lie on a bed. "Ahhh" he sighed. "These beds are so comfortable". I raised my eyebrows at him slightly and turned around to face Harry but he too was lying on a bed, but the one next to Ron's.

"He's right Mione, I think the sheets are made from cotton" Harry said dreamily. I sighed and sat down on the edge of Ron's bed. "Can I please stay here tonight?" Harry asked. "Ok, but you're have to sleep with Ron in his bed" I replied, smirking slightly. "Maybe not. I think I'd better go now anyway, I'm really tired. See you both at breakfast. Night" Harry said. "Night" me and Ron said in union. 

Once Harry had left, me and Ron sat in silence for a while. I gazed around the room again. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad staying here after all, even if I do have to live with Ron. I decided to break the silence. "Do you want to see if there's a bathroom?" I asked. "Ok" Ron replied, standing up.  

We found a door near to our bed's and opened it and stepped inside. It was quite a small room but didn't look too bad. The walls were white and clean and the floor was tiled. The toilet was right next to the door which I thought was handy because when one of us needed to go, the other could stand outside. 

I suddenly noticed two showers right next to each other. "Oooohh! Two showers. We can shower together!" I said happily. Ron looked at me disgusted. I suddenly realised what I had said and blushed slightly. "You know what I mean".

I yawned faintly but a sudden thought occurred to me. "How are we supposed to get into the showers properly if we're handcuffed together?" I asked. Ron took my arm and walked into one of the showers and I walked into the other one. The handcuffs could go through things. 

"Ron, I'm kind of tired. Can we go to sleep?" I asked warily. "Yeah sure" he replied and we both went back into our bedroom. Me and Ron looked at each other with the same thought in our mind, how are we meant to get changed? 

I suddenly had an idea and beckoned Ron over to my trunk with me where I pulled out my Gryffindor scarf. "Put this over your eyes while I change and I'll do the same for you" I said. "Ok" Ron replied and he tied it around his eyes. I wondered if I should test him but I knew that Ron would never want to look so I quickly got changed with difficulty and Ron did the same afterwards. 

We both climbed into our beds and the lights switched off automatically. Not another sound was heard while I drifted off to sleep. I dreamt I was flying through the air with nothing to support me, my eyes were closed and I had a small smile on my face. Suddenly I felt myself sinking, then I started to fall. 

I tried to scream but no sound came out and I was still falling with my eyes still closed. When I was about to hit the floor someone caught me in their strong arms. I opened my eyes slowly and a blurred figure was standing in front of me like a big, red blur. I was just about to see their face when I heard someone calling my name. I woke up suddenly to see Ron's face staring down at me. 

I was brought back to reality and suddenly felt quite annoyed. "I was in the middle of a dream" I said irritably. "Oh sorry, anything good?" Ron asked. "Erm… no I suppose not" I said feeling a little embarrassed. "What time is it?" I asked. "Seven thirty, it's time for breakfast" Ron replied. 

We got dressed like we did last night and made our way to the Great Hall. I saw Harry and Ginny sitting next to each other chatting and laughing. Were they flirting? I looked at Ron who looked as though he was about to explode. I suddenly grabbed his hand which seemed to calm him down. 

We walked over to them and Ginny looked at mine and Ron's hands entwined. I let go quickly, blushing deeply. I also noticed that Ron's ears had turned red. "What's up with you two then?" Ginny asked, smiling. "Nothing" Ron said. Ginny looked as though she didn't believe him. "What's up with you and Harry then?" Ron asked. "Nothing" Ginny replied, blushing the same colour as me. "Did you have a nice sleep?" Harry asked. "Yeah it was alright" I replied, whilst I buttered my toast. "Good. I hope you two are getting along, otherwise you're be stuck together for a long time" Ginny said. 

"Yeah…" said Ron looking like he was in deep thought, which is quite unusual for him. "Do you mind if me and Hermione go on ahead, Harry?" Ron asked. Harry looked only too happy to stay alone with Ginny, I wonder why… 

"Yeah sure, I'll see you in Herbology" Harry replied. "Ok, bye" Ron said. We both stood up and walked out of the doors and into the grounds. "What was that about?" I asked curiously. "I've had an idea" Ron said. "Really? You get ideas?" I said, laughing. Ron gave me a dirty look. "If you don't want to know then fine, we're be stuck together forever". 

"No, carry on" I said. "Well, I was thinking. If we pretend we're getting along really well then maybe they'll free us" Ron said. It was actually quite a good idea so I agreed to it. At least now the arguments would stop in front of people. 

We walked down to Herbology and Harry joined us a few minutes later. All morning me and Ron were really nice to each other and smiled a lot. We carried on like that all day and didn't snap or argue once. By dinner, we were still getting along. 

"You owe me an ice cream Mione" Ron said. I faked a caring smile. "Oh yes Ron, you're quite right. Here you go" I said, whilst handing him the chocolate ice cream with sprinkles and a flake. "Thank you very much" Ron said politely. "It was my pleasure" I replied. 

"I'm not buying it" Harry suddenly said from next to us. "What ever do you mean Harry?" I asked. "You're being too nice, too fast. I'm not stupid you know. You're faking it aren't you?" Harry asked. Me and Ron knew we'd blown it. "Yes, sorry Harry" Ron said. "Yeah, sorry" I said. "That's ok. It was quite nice having some peace and quiet without you two rambling on at each other" Harry replied, smirking. Ron and I dipped our fingers into the ice cream and wiped it on Harry's face which turned into a bit of an ice cream fight. 

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A/N: Another chapter done! Please review. 


	5. Forced to get along

Chapter five – Forced to get along

Harry's POV

I pulled out the mirror Sirius gave me a few months ago and said very clearly: "Sirius Black". A few seconds later, Sirius' head appeared inside the mirror. "Harry! It's so great to hear from you" Sirius exclaimed happily. "It's wonderful to see you" I said, tears swelling in my green eyes. 

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, concerned. "It's just, what if I'd never seen you again? It's been on my mind for a while now. I wouldn't be able to bear not having you around" I said. "Well I am here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise you Harry that I'll be extra careful and stay inside" Sirius replied. "Thanks" I said, smiling.

Sirius smiled back and began to speak again. "So how did the plan work with Ron and Hermione?" "Fine. It seems to be working as well, I'm even starting to think they might have feelings for each other" I replied, grinning. "You may well be right" Sirius said. 

"How are things at the order?" I asked. "Quite good, we're on the lookout for Wormtail at the moment" Sirius said. "Any luck?" I asked. "Yeah, we've heard things but no capture yet. Maybe if we find him, I'll be set free" Sirius said happily. Hope swelled inside of me; it would be wonderful if Sirius was set free. 

"One other thing, Harry. Would you like to stay with me here after about a week of your holiday?" Sirius asked. "Yes of course I would! That'd be great!" I said happily. "We're have to double check with Dumbledore first but he suggested it a while back so it should be fine. I'd better get going now though, got lots of work to do" Sirius said. 

"Yeah, me too. Can I ask one more question?" I asked. "Yeah sure" Sirius replied. "What happened with Kreacher?" Sirius laughed gently. "He killed himself. I gave him the great honour of being with his ancestors" Sirius replied. I laughed as well. "Ok, thanks. Bye!" I said. "Bye!" Sirius replied and we both put our mirrors away. 

I walked downstairs into the common room and saw Ginny sitting on a chair waiting for me. "Hello Harry" she said brightly. "Uh… hi" I managed to choke out. My stomach felt like butterflies were flying around in it, there was something weird going on. 

Ginny's POV

Why is Harry looking at me strangely? Do I have something in my teeth? Wait, I haven't even eaten yet! Today is a Saturday and another Hogsmeade trip, but me and Harry aren't going for a good reason. 

Ron and Hermione walked downstairs arguing, damn. "Hi" Harry and I said together. They stopped bickering and looked at each other nervously; they hadn't known we were there. "Erm, Hi. Ready to go to breakfast then off to Hogsmeade?" Ron asked. "We're going to breakfast but not to Hogsmeade" I replied. 

Ron and Hermione's face's both turned pale. "What? But why?" Hermione asked. "We have homework that we really need to catch up on" Harry replied. They didn't look as though they believed us but they didn't argue. 

Ron's POV

I knew they were lying but I didn't say anything. What a great day this was going to be, I'm stuck with Hermione. We both walked in silence down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Once we had finished, we set off for Hogsmeade. 

We wandered around for a while and then decided to go into some shops. I saw Zonko's up ahead but didn't think Hermione would want to go in there; she is a bit on the boring, mature side. "Oooh Zonko's! I do need some more stink pellets" Hermione said enthusiastically. I looked at her in disbelief. Was this my Hermione? Wanting to go into a joke shop? Wait, did I say _my _Hermione? Oh shit. "Why do you need stink pellets?" I asked curiously. "Have you never noticed how badly Malfoy's hair can stink sometimes? Well, it's not a coincidence".

We both laughed hysterically and I felt a stitch in my side and my face hurt from smiling so much. After Zonko's, we went to Honeydukes for some every flavour beans. "Ugh, I think this is cat's poo" Hermione said with disgust. "Yuck! That's disgusting. Are you sure you're eating a bean or has Crookshanks been through your things?" I asked. Hermione smiled and laughed. "You always know how to make me laugh Ron" she said. 

We both stared at each other for a moment but then turned away blushing. I heard laughter somewhere in the distance. "Want to go to the three broomsticks?" I asked. "Yeah sure" Hermione replied. We entered the three broomsticks and found a table to sit down at. 

Only a few seconds later, Draco Malfoy came over. "Why isn't it the famous couple! Mudblood and Weasel" Malfoy sneered. Pure hatred bubbled inside of me, at this point I'd be jumping on him but Hermione held my hand so I couldn't leave. 

"At least he could actually get a girlfriend Malfoy, not that I'm her. You'd have to pay someone to date you, unless it's that ugly bitch Pansy" Hermione said with a smirk on her face. "Shut your mouth Mudblood" Malfoy spat. "Ooooh!! I'm so scared!" Hermione taunted. Malfoy was about to make a move to hurt her but an invisible person, or people tripped him up before he had the chance. 

Everyone in the three broomsticks laughed and Malfoy left very red in the face and wearing an annoyed expression. "Well done Mione, you really knew what to say" I said. "Thank you" she replied, smiling. "Do you want to go back now?" I asked. "Ok, one more thing though. Bye Harry and Ginny".

"Damn, she knew" said Harry to Ginny from underneath the invisibility cloak. 

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A/N: Did you like it? Please review! 


	6. Quidditch and secret messages

Chapter six – Quidditch and secret messages 

Hermione's POV

I knew it was too good to be true. I thought it would be alright being handcuffed to Ron once we started getting on, but no. I had completely forgotten about one thing, Quidditch. Sure I've played before but not in an actual real game, but it looks like I'm going to have to. 

Of course I won't be able to help Ron do his keeping; I'll just stay on my broomstick flying this way and that when he moves to save any goals. I just hope I won't be involved too much or spoil Gryffindors chances of winning. Ron doesn't seem too happy about it. He's complaining to Harry right now over lunch.  

"Harry, couldn't you just release us right now? We're getting along ok so I don't understand why you can't" Ron said. "Because the only reason you're saying that is because you don't want Hermione to play Quidditch with you. I don't really see the problem myself" Harry replied. 

"She can't play Quidditch that's why!" Ron said angrily. I dropped my toast. What a bastard! "Excuse me?" I asked angrily. "No offence Hermione but you can't" Ron replied. I just wish I could storm off right now but I can't because I would be dragging him with me. Instead, I shuffled a few inches away from him and turned my head away from him. 

"Don't be like that Hermione! Turn around!" Ron said. "Why should I?" I asked.  "Because I said so!" Ron replied angrily. "I don't have to do what you say Ron, you can't push me around like you do to everyone else" I retorted. "I don't push people around!" I gave a hollow laugh. "Harry, do I push people around?" Ron asked. "Erm… no I guess" Harry replied. "See Hermione!" Ron said. "Fuck you Ronald Weasley! I'm in that game whether you like it or not".  

I spent the rest of the day not talking to him, which is difficult when you're handcuffed to someone. How could one person be all nice and caring but then turn into an unreasonable bastard? I'd like to know! I went to sleep quickly that night and didn't dream of my red-headed hero because he was not a hero anymore. 

Ron's POV

I woke up early the next morning and woke Hermione up. "Come on, time for breakfast" I said. She didn't say anything. Great, she still isn't talking to me, how pathetic. We both got dressed and went down to breakfast where we saw Harry already eating. 

"Hi Harry" I said. "Hi, ready for Quidditch?" Harry asked me and Hermione. I nodded but Hermione looked extremely pale and didn't even move her head. "Are you ok Hermione?" Ginny asked, concerned. "Yeah" Hermione choked out. "I'm fine". 

She didn't look fine. She looked even worse when we were getting changed into our Quidditch robes. I felt a little sorry for her, even though we are arguing. "Look Hermione, I know you're not talking to me but do you remember how nervous I was on my first game? You don't even have to do anything just be careful. Do you remember what you did that made me feel better?" I asked. Hermione looked at me. I kissed her gently on the cheek. "Come on, let's get going". 

We all soared onto the pitch and me and Hermione flew over to the goalposts. Once the captains had shaken hands, the game began. Over the next fifteen minutes, everything seemed to be going alright. Gryffindor led 50 to 20. It wasn't too hard saving goals with Hermione attached to me, she was actually quite a good flyer. 

Another ten minutes passed and Gryffindor scored another two times. Slytherin looked extremely annoyed about it, but I was thrilled. "I hope Harry finds the snitch soon, it's quite cold up here isn't it?" I asked Hermione. She nodded, shivering. 

Ten more minutes passed and I looked below me and saw Harry and Malfoy flying in the same direction, they'd seen the snitch. After a bit more circling each other, I saw Harry clasp his hand over the tiny golden snitch. The person doing the commentary made the great announcement. "Harry Potter has caught the snitch. Two hundred and twenty to twenty. Gryffindor win!" Cheers erupted all over the stadium, except with the Slytherins and an annoyed Snape. 

Malfoy looked extremely angry and upset. He grabbed one of Slytherin's bats and hit one of the bludgers really hard. My throat went dry; it was coming straight at us. Before I had time to do anything, it was too late. The Bludger flew and hit Hermione straight into her stomach and she fell off her broom. 

Luckily, I was attached to her and grabbed both her hands in mine whilst trying to keep balance on my broom. I lifted her up onto mine and gently flew down to the ground. I sat on the floor with Hermione in my arms. She looked like she had been completely winded and was in a lot of pain. Before I could do anything, she passed out. 

Me and Harry carried her to the hospital wing and laid her on one of the beds. I sat down barely an inch from her bed holding her hand in my own. Madam Pomfrey came in and Harry told her what had happened. I couldn't get any words out. She told us she'd be ok and that we should leave her to rest. I had to tell her about the handcuffs and she tutted but let me stay next to Hermione in a bed which had been pushed closer.

I spent the whole morning of the next day by Hermione. She looked so helpless, just lying there with her eyes closed. Madam Pomfrey had given her some potion and helped her to swallow it. She said it was to cure her from being winded so she wouldn't feel any pain when she woke up.

I was sitting there putting the hair out of Hermione's face when Madam Pomfrey came over to us holding flowers. "I found these at the door" she said, handing them to me. She gave me water in a vase and put them in there for me. I noticed there was a card attached to the flowers so I decided to read it. 

_Dear Hermione, _

_I'm very sorry to see you hurt but you know I'll be there to kiss you better my sweet girl._

_Love guess who?_

_xxx_


	7. Recovery

Chapter seven – Recovery

Ron's POV

I stared in disbelief at the card. I knew who it was from. It was from- "Ron?" a small voice asked. I turned around and looked at Hermione who was beginning to open her eyes. "Hermione" I breathed gently. "You're awake. How are you feeling?" I asked. "Surprisingly tired still" she replied. 

Hermione turned and noticed the flowers next to her bed. "Who are they from?" she asked. "No idea, there was no card" I replied, scrunching up the card and pushing it into my robes pocket. "Ok, what happened? The last thing I remember was falling off my broom after the Bludger hit me, my vision was blurring afterwards before I passed out" Hermione said. I took a seat next to her bed and stared into her eyes. 

"Well, I grabbed your hands and pulled you onto my broom and brought you to the ground before you passed out" I said. "You saved my life" Hermione said, smiling. She suddenly gave me a tight hug and I embraced her warmness. Even in my pure bliss, I felt a wave of guilt flow over me. I couldn't tell her the truth, not yet anyway. It would ruin everything and the same problem would arise again. There was no way I would let that happen. 

No ones POV

A few days later, Hermione was miles better and her and Ron left the hospital wing to return to their normal lessons. By now it was Wednesday so they made their way to Defence against the dark arts. 

Professor Sapphira was teaching them about Chimaera's. They were too dangerous to bring to the lesson so they were reading about them out of a book. 

"Woah, look at that thing!" Ron said to Hermione and Harry as they stared at the picture of the Chimaera. The Chimaera had the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a dragon. "Now, can anyone tell me the extent of the Chimaera's dangerousness?" Professor Sapphira asked. 

Hermione's hand shot up but she hadn't realised it was the one attached to Ron's, so his hand shot up too. "Yes Mr Weasley" Sapphira asked. Ron turned pale and quickly scanned the page. "Um, it is vicious and bloodthirsty. The only wizard who managed to kill one fell off of his flying horse and died" Ron said. 

"Well done Mr Weasley! Ten points to Gryffindor" Sapphira said. Hermione and Harry smiled at him and Hermione muttered an apology. "Don't worry about it 'Mione, it got us house points didn't it?" Ron replied. 

Hermione's POV

I was quite surprised that Ron answered so well because normally he'd barely answer at all. Unfortunately, Potions is next and I've been dreading it all morning. I'm worried what Malfoy will say about my injury, it was his fault after all. 

The three of us walked down to the dungeons and entered Snape's cold classroom. We took our seats at the back and took out our books and waited upon his arrival. A few minutes later, Draco Malfoy entered and saw me. Oh dear, here we go! 

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Granger! Feeling much better are we? You had a nasty fall didn't you? I shudder to think what would have happened if Weasel hadn't been there to rescue you" Malfoy said sarcastically. I just sat there glaring at him but decided to answer back. 

"I do wonder _Draco _whether my accident would have occurred if you hadn't been so bitter about Harry catching the Snitch when it was so close to being in your grasp. I wonder what your daddy said about that" I said, smirking. 

Malfoy lunged at me but Ron stood up protectively in front of me holding out his wand. "Don't you dare" he snarled. "Be careful Weasley, we don't want you to end up burping slugs again do we?" Malfoy retorted. Ron raised his wand but a sound was heard and he sat down quickly. 

Malfoy raised his eyebrows at him and sat in his own seat. Seconds later, Professor Snape entered his classroom. I sighed with relief, if he had come in seconds earlier, Ron would have been in a lot of trouble. It would have been my own fault because he was protecting me. Why was he protecting me? 

Harry's POV

Mine and Ginny's plan is working wonderfully. Ron and Hermione are friends again and Ron is already defending her. I couldn't help wondering if there was more to his defending and saving Hermione than meets the eye. He'd never admit to any feelings for her of course but I do wonder. 

I talked to Sirius again today, he's looking healthier now and he has even had a hair cut! His hair is just covering his ears and he looks a little bit like he did when he was my age. Except his hair doesn't fall into his eyes so much and is slightly darker and not as elegant as it once was. 

I can't wait until I can go and stay with him. For once, I'm not dreading the end of the year. I still have to be with the Dursleys but only for one week, which is a plus in my books. I'd better go down to dinner now; I said I'd meet Ginny there. 

I don't know why I never noticed before how beautiful she is. Maybe it was because I only saw her as Ron's little sister but she is no longer nine going on ten like when I first saw her, she is now fifteen and is growing up very nicely. 

"Hi Harry" Ginny said when I walked over to the Gryffindor table. "I saved you a seat" she added. I sat down next to her and piled food onto my plate. "How's your morning been?" I asked her nicely. "It's been ok. Charms was fun, Colin is such a laugh" Ginny said, smiling. 

I felt as thought my heart was in my throat. "Oh…" I managed to get out. Colin's a laugh is he? I bet she likes him, she used to like me but I've missed my chance now. "Are you ok Harry?" Ginny asked, concerned. 

"Yeah, I'm just tired" I replied. I wasn't going to give up Ginny without a fight though; if only she liked me back then maybe I'd stand a chance. "I'm going to bed" I said, finishing my meal. "Ok, night" Ginny said. "Night" I replied and I did something I shouldn't have. I kissed her softly on the cheek and hurried out of the Great Hall blushing a good shade of red. 

Hermione's POV

After dinner, Ron and I decided to go to sleep. I wasn't really very tired at the moment as I got a lot of sleep in the hospital wing. I let Ron get dressed first and I did the same afterwards. Ron laid on his back on his own bed and I looked at the floor. 

His clothes were scattered everywhere. What a slob! I picked up his uniform, folded it and put it under his bed. I picked up his robes but something fell out of one of the pockets. I picked it up and noticed it was scrunched up. I smoothed it out and was startled that it was addressed to me. I read the message and knew what Ron had done and that I would be 'speaking' to him about it very soon. 

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A/N: Hey! What did you think? Please review! 


	8. Ron's jealousy

Chapter eight – Ron's jealousy

Hermione's POV

I woke up the next morning feeling tired still. Thoughts have been swirling around in my head which has kept me up later than usual. Ron sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Morning" he said cheerfully. I gave a fake smile and we both went to have a shower. Once we were dressed we just stood there staring at each other. 

"Should we-" Ron began but before he could finish his sentence, I slapped him. Ron held his now red cheek and looked utterly confused. I walked down to breakfast with him being dragged along with me. "Hermione wait" Ron said and he stood in front of me and held my arms. 

"Don't touch me" I snarled, breaking out of his grasp. "What is the matter with you?!" Ron asked. I held up the card and Ron's face went pale. "What is the matter with you Ron?" I snapped. "Hermione, I…" Ron started. 

"Don't! How could you do this Ron? After everything that happened, I thought we were friends now!" I said. "We are!" Ron managed to choke out. "Then why did you hide this from me? We've been through this before and even then you didn't give me a straight answer, explain!" I yelled at him. 

"I… can't… you… don't… understand" Ron stuttered. "No Ron, you don't understand! Why do you have to be like this? How do you think it makes me feel?" I asked. "I…don't-" Ron stammered. "I'm fed up of this, from now on you are invisible to me Ron. I don't care that we're handcuffed together, you are not my friend any more!" I shouted. 

Ron's POV

I just stared at her. "But 'Mione-" I began. "Don't call me 'Mione! Only _friends_ can call me that!" she said. She dragged me down to dinner but I didn't feel hungry at all. I just sat there staring into my food with a gaunt expression on my face. 

"Are you ok, Ron?" Harry asked from next to me. I tried to speak but it seemed as though I'd forgotten how to so I merely nodded. 

The whole day was awful. Hermione didn't speak to me once. I tried to talk to her but she put her nose in the air and ignored me. Harry knew what was going on but said nothing about it, which I was thankful for. Harry seemed to have thoughts of his own at the moment anyway, not sure what they are though…

Harry's POV

What a bad day it has been. Not only is Hermione not talking to Ron for reasons unknown, Ginny is avoiding me. I tried to talk to her at breakfast but she hurried off before I could even begin. I just know it's because I kissed her last night. It wasn't even a real kiss, just a peck on the cheek, a sign of friendship. Surely she could understand that?! Obviously not. 

Ron seems to be more troubled than I am though. I wonder why Hermione is so mad at him anyway. I tried asking them both but they didn't tell me anything, I think it's something personal between them. I'm sitting in the common room at the moment, staring into the flames. I need someone to talk to about all of this, but who? 

I know, Sirius. I crept upstairs into my dorm and found my mirror. I checked the whole room, even in cupboards just to make sure no one was listening. Then I said quite clearly: "Sirius Black". A face appeared in the mirror but it wasn't Sirius', it was Remus Lupin's. 

"Hello Harry, looking for Sirius?" Remus asked. "Yeah, is he around?" I replied. "I'm afraid he's in a meeting with the order. I've just came out to feed Buckbeak, do you want me to tell him to speak to you when he comes back?" Remus asked. "No, that's ok. I'm meant to be speaking to him tomorrow anyway it's just, I kind of needed some advice" I said. 

I decided it was too embarrassing to tell Remus about Ginny so I told him the story of Ron and Hermione. "Ah yes, Sirius did mention about the handcuffs. If you want my advice, I'd go and see them both about it and sit them down and try and get them to explain" Remus said. "I've tried talking to them but they wouldn't tell me anything" I said.

"Well, is there any time when one of them won't be able to listen?" Remus asked. "When they're asleep I guess". "Wake one of them up when the other is asleep and then ask that person" Remus said. I smiled at him. "Thanks Moony". We talked for a while longer about the order and other things until I decided it was time to talk to my friends. 

"Thanks for your help Remus. Tell Sirius I said hello and I'll talk to him tomorrow" I said. "Ok, bye!" Remus said. "Bye" I replied and I put the mirror back into my trunk. 

I left my dorm and said the password to Ron and Hermione's. The door opened and I slipped inside. Hermione was already asleep and Ron lay on his bed with his eyes open and staring. "Ron?" I asked quietly. Ron sat up and smiled weakly at me. "Hiya Harry". 

I sat down next to him on his bed and began the conversation. "Ron, I think we need to talk" I said seriously. "We're not breaking up are we?" he replied, smiling more than he had all day. I smirked at him and raised my eyebrows. "Look, it's about you and Hermione" I said, shooting a nervous glance at her. 

"Don't worry Harry, she is such a deep sleeper. This owl flew into our window once and was hooting really loudly and she still slept on" Ron said. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I wanted to know why Hermione and you are arguing again. In fact…" I said, thinking of something suddenly. "Why have you been arguing so much in the first place? You weren't as bad as this in our other years here. 

Ron sighed and looked like he was deep in thought. Finally he said: "It's a long story". "I'm willing to hear it" I replied. Ron sighed again. "Ok, it all started on September the first, our first night here…" Ron began. 

*FLASHBACK* 

Ron's POV 

Back to school again, sigh. Just look at those frightened first years, about to put on the sorting hat. I remember that feeling, but then again, I'm sure most of those children didn't have most of their family put in Gryffindor, like I have. 

After  a while, the sorting was finally over and we began our feast. "Stop that you! You're such a flirt!" I heard Hermione squeal. I looked up and saw Seamus Finnigan tickling her under the table. It made my insides churn and my fists clenched under the table. 

No one else seemed to notice at all, they were too busy talking to friends they hadn't seen all summer. I looked next to me and saw Harry talking to Ginny. "Come on 'Mione, you know you like it really" Seamus said. Hermione started to giggle and the noise was deafening in my ears. I tried to block them out but it proved to be extremely difficult. 

I was too busy concentrating on them that I accidentally knocked my fork onto the floor. I bent under the table to pick it up and saw Hermione and Seamus' hands entwined. I felt a wave of jealously wash over me, how dare they do that! They come back after one summer and they're all over each other. 

I sat back up the table again and glared at Seamus. He didn't seem to notice though and carried on flirting with Hermione right in front of me. It felt wet just underneath my eye but I wiped it away and breathed deeply. 

"Are you ok Ron?" Hermione asked, taking enough time to tear her eyes away from her lover boy. "Fine" I grunted in return. Hermione looked confused but that feeling was swept away when Seamus began tickling her again. I rolled my eyes at them and continued with my meal. 

What on earth is wrong with me? I can't be jealous! I don't like Hermione that way again, at least, I don't think I do. I looked up at them again and saw Seamus whisper something into Hermione's ear. She smiled and they got up and left the Great Hall together. 

I found myself stand up and following them, saying my apologies to Harry. I hid behind statues until they stopped at the top of the staircase. I crept behind a statue of a lion and watched quietly. 

"I'm not sure about this, Seamus" Hermione said. Seamus smiled at her and then began kissing her. It started off rough and then slightly softer but Hermione didn't seem to mind very much. There was a hot anger inside of me which I hadn't felt since she'd been with Krum. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. Seamus started to rub Hermione's leg, upwards and downwards. It began there but his hand started to move slowly in the direction of her thigh. 

Without thinking I jumped up, ran over to them, ripped them apart and punched Seamus in the face. He fell to the floor with a thud and his nose began to bleed. My face was extremely red and my fists were still clenched. My eyes felt like slits and my lips were pursed. 

"What on earth do you think you're doing!?" Hermione yelled from behind me. My expression softened and I turned to face her. I suddenly realised the extent of what my rage would cause. Would Hermione still be my friend after this?

"I… um… sorry… I" I stuttered, cowering from her rage. She looked absolutely furious and her face was redder than mine. She slapped me across the face and ran back in the direction of the common room. "Hermione wait!" I yelled after her. I left Seamus and ran after her. By the time I'd reached the portrait of the fat lady, I was out of breath. 

Luckily, I was a prefect so I knew the password and could enter the common room. I saw Hermione sitting in a chair crying into her robes. I felt a rush of guilt sweep over me and motioned towards her and put my hand on her shoulder. 

"Don't you dare!" she shouted, springing up suddenly. "You had no right to hit Seamus! He wasn't doing anything wrong!" Hermione yelled. "He was kissing you and touching you!" I retorted. "So! Why do you care? This is just like it was with Krum. You can't imagine that any guy would want to be with me! You treat me like I'm a boy and don't have any feelings of my own as well!" Hermione said, tears still visible on her cheeks. 

"It's not my fault if I don't like you being with these slimy, little gits! You know what Seamus is like! Have you forgotten what he was like last year!" I asked. "He apologised for that!" Hermione answered. I heard someone enter the room. 

"Well if you don't like it you know where you can stick it!" Hermione yelled. "Why don't you ever listen!? If you would just let me explain" I said. Hermione ignored me. "Fine!" I snapped. "Fine" Hermione retorted and we both ran up the staircases and slammed our doors. 

*END FLASHBACK*

Harry's POV

"And that's the whole story" Ron finished. I stared at Ron in bewilderment. If I had entered seconds before, I would have found this all out weeks ago. But there was one important question on my mind. 

"You fancy Hermione?" I asked. "Yes" Ron replied, bowing his head. "When? Why? How?" I asked in shock. "In our forth year when that whole thing with Krum happened. But my feelings were fading away by our fifth year, until she kissed me on the cheek. I'm sorry I didn't tell you" Ron said. 

"It's ok, I understand" I said waving his apology aside. "But how do you feel now?" I asked. "I think I love her Harry" Ron replied.

No one's POV

What they both didn't realise was that Hermione's eyes were wide open and she heard every word they said. 

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A/N: Ouch! What did you think of that? Thank you for your reviews but carry on reviewing please! 


	9. Confusion

Chapter nine – Confusion

Hermione's POV

I just lay there still with my eyes wide open and staring. My ears strained to catch every word they said or any sound they made. I couldn't believe it, Ron loved me. I now understood why he was so annoyed about Seamus; I've been such an idiot. Why couldn't I have listened to him or been more patient and understanding? Then maybe we'd be happy. Wait, what did I mean by happy? Do I love Ron back? There have been feelings between us in the past but I never considered what it would be like to actually be with him, maybe I should start thinking. 

I suddenly wondered why everything was so quiet. I just wished I could turn around and see them, but then they might guess that I've heard. Maybe I should tell them I heard. _Don't be an idiot Hermione. _Said a voice in the back on my head. _They would be so angry that you listened to their private conversation. _

"Are you going to tell her?" Harry suddenly said, making me jump. "No, I can't, Harry. I know she doesn't feel the same" Ron replied. "How do you know that?" Harry asked. Yeah! How does he know that? "I just do, who'd want to be with me anyway? Look at me! I'm nothing special, nothing brilliant. I can never give Hermione what she wants. I'm not good enough for her". 

I felt tears forming in my eyes. I felt so many emotions. Pain, guilt, confusion, happiness… I guess I am happy Ron likes me; maybe I could even like him back. But then what about…

"Seamus. He can give her what she needs, he'd be a better boyfriend" Ron said. "Don't put yourself down Ron! Hermione would be lucky to be with you, you're ten times better than Seamus" Harry replied. Harry really does know how to cheer a person up. 

"Thanks Harry. I better go to sleep now" Ron said. "Yeah me too, night" Harry replied. "Night" Ron said, rather gloomily. I heard Ron lay down on his bed. I wanted to stay up and ponder all these feelings I'm having but then I drifted off to sleep…

Harry's POV

I closed Ron and Hermione's bedroom door and crept into my own so I didn't wake up the others. I looked over at Seamus' bed and felt a slight surge of anger. I knew it wasn't his fault but he is the reason Ron and Hermione aren't together, like they should be. 

I got dressed quickly and slid into my four poster, closing the curtains as I did so. I felt so much sympathy for Ron. There he is, in love with this girl who has no idea and he may never be with her. I know that feeling. 

Ginny's POV

I woke up early this morning and got dressed quickly. I hoped that I would see Harry soon. I've been avoiding him lately but for a good reason. When Harry kissed me on the cheek, all my feelings for him came flooding back inside of me like a tidal wave. I never wanted it to happen and I want these feelings to stop. 

Which is why I've been avoiding him. Because every time I see him, my heart feels heavy. I know that the kiss was a sign of friendship and nothing more and that hurt me inadequately. But now I think is the day to face him. I can't hide from him forever can I? 

I walked down into the common room but only Ron and Hermione was there. I sighed disappointedly. But as I walked closer, I noticed that Ron looked troubled. "Ron, are you ok?" I asked gently. Ron looked up at me and I saw that he had tears in his eyes, which he quickly brushed away. 

"Yeah, I'm fine" he choked out. Hermione was reading but she didn't seem to be very interested in her book. I knew Ron wasn't ok but I knew there was something wrong that he didn't want to tell me in front of Hermione. "Are you sure, Ron?" I whispered so Hermione couldn't hear. 

Ron looked at me with a serious look on his face. He looked as thought he wanted to tell me but couldn't, so he merely said: "Ask Harry, he'll tell you". 

Harry's POV

I sleepily slipped out of bed and got dressed. When I went downstairs into the common room I noticed that no one was there, except for Ginny. My heart leapt but then I realised she was avoiding me so I decided to just walk past quietly. I began to walk when I heard Ginny's voice. 

"Harry, I need to talk to you". I turned around to face her and was amazed how beautiful she looked. Her shining hazel eyes gave a kind of mystery feeling and her long, red hair flowed over her shoulders with grace.      

"What about?" I asked curiously. "Ron" she answered shortly. Oh no, what if she's noticed how upset he is at the moment? Would Ron want Ginny to know about how he feels? "What about him?" I asked cautiously. 

"Well, I saw him earlier and he seemed very upset but he looked as though he wanted to tell me why but couldn't because Hermione was there. So he said to me to ask you and you'd tell me what was wrong with him" Ginny replied. 

"It's a long story" I answered. "I'll listen" Ginny replied, sitting down in an armchair. I sat down also in one opposite her and took a deep breath and launched into the whole story. Ginny made a good audience. She gasped in the right places and didn't interrupt unless she needed to. Ginny looked quite surprised when I told her about Seamus and Hermione kissing and touching each other, I knew the feeling, I was quite shocked as well. 

Once I had finished, I waited patiently for Ginny's reply. There was an awkward silence where me and Ginny were both staring absent mindedly at the floor. Finally, she spoke. "I can't believe this, poor Ron". 

"I know" I replied, looking up. "I couldn't believe it either". "We were so stupid, Harry" Ginny said unexpectedly. "Why?" I asked. "We handcuffed them together without knowing why they were fighting so much. How could we do that to Ron?" Ginny said, tears visible on her cheeks.    

Without thinking, I rushed forward and hugged Ginny gently, stroking her hair and soothing her softly. "Don't feel bad, Ginny. We didn't know, it was better for them to sort it out anyway instead of arguing over it. They were getting on weren't they?" I asked, letting go of her. 

"Yeah, you're right" Ginny replied, wiping away her tears. She smiled at me warmly which melted my heart. Then her expression changed and she sprang out of her chair, feeling awkward. "I'm sorry, Harry. I have to go". Then she rushed out through the portrait hole without another word. 

Ron's POV

Hermione and I walked down to breakfast in silence. She seemed just as troubled as I was but neither of us said a word. I felt hollow inside the pit of my stomach. I wished there was a way to tell her how I feel about her, but would she feel the same? No. She'd be disgusted. 

Hermione's POV

There was an eerie silence between us. I wasn't sure what I could say to him. Thoughts were swirling in my mind, all telling me different things. _You like Seamus, forget about Ron. But are you sure you like Seamus as much as you think you do? Do you love him? You know deep down you love Ron. Tell him. _

I pushed these thoughts out of my mind and looked towards the floor while I walked. My footsteps made an echoing sound off the dusty walls of Hogwarts. I knew I was being an idiot; I couldn't love Ron and Seamus. But which one did I truly love? I just wasn't sure… 

Ginny's POV

I knew I shouldn't have just walked out like that but I had no choice. Once again, I felt close to Harry and I felt as though I could lie in his arms all day. I feel warm, safe and protected whenever I'm with him. But I know I shouldn't feel this way, it was just a friendly hug to cheer me up. 

He must think I'm a complete idiot now. Silly little Ginny, thought the hug might mean something on the spur of the moment and got too scared and ran away to hide. Maybe if I pretend nothing happened and just act normal around him, he might forget all about it. Yes, that seems like a good idea. 

Harry's POV

I sat there alone in the common room, lost in thought. Why had Ginny ran away like that? Maybe I scared her away by hugging her, but I was just trying to comfort her. But truthfully, it was more than that. I wanted to be close to her, to hold her in my arms and feel for just one second that she was mine. 

But that is never going to happen. She has no idea how I feel. I can't let this keep happening though. The moment we get close one of us runs, it has to stop. But how? I looked down and rested my head in my hands. There is only one thing I can do; I have to tell Ginny that I love her…

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A/N: Hiya! Sorry for the wait but there it is chapter nine! I'll be back at school soon so I might be a little bit slower updating but the next two chapters coming shouldn't take too long. Please review and I'll update quicker! 


	10. Confessions

Chapter ten – Confessions

Ginny's POV

I walked down to the Great Hall feeling slightly more cheerful but also quite nervous. What if Harry asked me why I ran away? I couldn't think of any explanation which didn't make me seem peculiar. When I finally arrived at the main doors, I took a deep breath and stepped inside. 

I looked over at the Gryffindor table and noticed Hermione sitting with Ron (obviously) with Harry opposite them. I walked over and sat next to Hermione. "Hi Ginny" she said cheerfully. "Hello" I replied, buttering a piece of toast. I glanced quickly at Harry and saw him look away. Was he staring at me? He seemed very awkward with me there and he looked like he was sweating a little. "Are you ok, mate?" Ron asked Harry. "Yeah, course I am" Harry replied, smiling weakly. I smiled at Harry in a friendly way and he smiled back at me. "Uh Ginny, can I um ask you um something?" he choked out. "Yeah sure. What is it?" I asked curiously. 

"Well…uh…I-" Harry was cut short when Neville entered and took a seat next to him. "Hello everyone!" he said happily. I looked at Harry expectantly but he turned slightly red. "I just remembered that I've forgotten my Transfiguration book" he said quickly and he hurried away without another word. 

"What's up with Harry?" I asked Ron. "No idea, he has been acting a little strange recently" Ron replied. Next moment, Seamus entered and sat where Harry had once been. "Hi _Ron, _Ginny and 'Mione" Seamus said. Hermione blushed slightly and muttered a weak "hi". I said hello normally and looked at Ron. 

His ears had gone slightly red and he said hi rather forcefully. I decided that I didn't want to get involved so I left quickly to go to my first lesson. I soon realised it was too early so I went back to the common room. 

When I walked in, I expected to see Harry but I didn't. I was about to walk up the staircases when I saw him hurrying down. I noticed there was no Transfiguration book visible in his arms. "Uh hi" he said nervously. "Hi, did you find your book?" I asked. 

"Um yeah, it's in my bag" Harry replied. "Ok. By the way Harry. What did you want to ask me?" I asked. Harry turned red and stuttered out his words. "Uh…uh…um…I-" he began but then there was another interruption. 

"Why did you do that, Ron? You're so childish!" Hermione said angrily. "It was an accident, calm down!" Ron replied. "I better go now" I said to Harry and I quickly left the common room. When I turned the corner, I leaned against a wall and took a deep breath. _Calm down, it wasn't anything important. _

Harry's POV

I rolled my eyes at my stupidity. Why was it so difficult to tell Ginny how I feel? I used to find it so easy to talk to her, what changed? _You know what changed, said a voice in my head. I shook my head and walked towards Ron and Hermione to find out what was the problem this time. _

"What happened?" I asked, sighing. "He spilled pumpkin juice all over Seamus' lap!" Hermione replied, still fuming. "I'm telling you it was accident! Can we just go to Transfiguration?" Ron asked. "Fine!" Hermione replied, dragging Ron along as she stormed away. 

Ron smirked at me and raised his eyebrows. He mouthed: 'it wasn't an accident'. I laughed slightly at that and Hermione turned around and eyed me dangerously. My big grin changed quickly into a serious expression. She turned around again and carried on walking, me and Ron still laughing silently. 

The rest of the day was uneventful. I tried a few more times trying to tell Ginny but I either got interrupted or I just couldn't do it. I knew I had to say it sometime but there was never a good opportunity. But if I don't do it soon, I may never be able to. 

Ron's POV

Hermione was civil to me all day but she still seemed quite angry. When we were in Herbology, I decided that I'd enough. "Hermione, I'm sorry about this morning at breakfast ok?" I said. Hermione didn't reply and kept on working. 

"Come on Hermione look at me" I said. She looked up and I gave her my best puppy dog eyes. I saw her expression soften and she sighed. "Fine, you're forgiven. But only because you have really nice eyes" she replied and I noticed her blushing slightly. Did she just say I had nice eyes? Things were looking up for us! 

Hermione's POV

I can not believe I said that! I am sooo embarrassed. The rest of the day went by smoothly and quickly and before I knew it, it was nearly time for dinner. I said I'd meet Seamus down there and that I'd sit with him but for some reason, I didn't want to tell Ron. He was sitting in a chair by the fire and I kept nervously checking my watch in the chair next to him. "Ron, don't you think we should get going to dinner?" I asked nervously. "Why, are you meeting Seamy there?" Ron snapped. 

How did he know? "What's your problem?" I asked standing up. Ron stood up also and we stood facing each other. He was slightly taller than me but I stood my ground. "If you've got something to say then say it" I said. "I have got something to say" Ron replied. 

"Go on then!" I snapped when Ron went quiet. "Ok, I…um… well" Ron stuttered. "Don't do that again!" I said angrily. "Do what?" Ron asked indignantly. "Stutter so you don't have to tell me" I replied. "Fine! Do you really want to know how I feel?" Ron asked.  

"Yes" I said, calming down. He was going to tell me, my heart was beating rapidly in my chest. "I…" Ron began but then his words faltered. "You…?" I asked. Ron took a deep breath and blurted it out. "I love you!" 

Harry's POV

I was walking on my way back to the common room when I saw Ginny ahead of me. "Hi Ginny" I said. She turned around and smiled. "Hello Harry". "Ginny, there's something I really want to tell you" I said. "Ok, what is it?" Ginny asked.

I opened my mouth but no words came out. I just stood there looking like a goldfish, not knowing how to express my feelings. I knew I couldn't do it, once again I'd failed. "Never mind, it wasn't important" I said, my heart sinking. 

"Oh, ok then. Bye!" Ginny replied, disappoint in her voice. She began to walk away from me and I felt so stupid. Why couldn't I tell her how I felt? It isn't that hard! I knew I'd blown it and I might not get another opportunity.

I watched Ginny's retreating back and with one deep breath, I yelled: "Ginny, I love you!" She turned around and looked at me with a shocked expression on her face. 

Ron's POV

Hermione just stood there staring at me. There was silence for a while but I couldn't take it any more. "Aren't you going to say anything?" I asked. "I don't know what to say" Hermione said, taking a seat. I sat down opposite her and took her hand in my own. 

"You could say it back" I said. "I'm not going to deny that I have feelings for you Ron…" she began. My heart rose but I felt uncertain. "But…" I said. "But I still have feelings for Seamus". A wave of fury washed over me. 

I stood up and Hermione did the same. "I'm sorry" she said. "So am I" I replied. "I don't know what to do, I like you both" Hermione said, looking down. "I know what you can do, Hermione" I said. Hermione looked up hopeful. 

"You can choose. It's me or Seamus". 

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A/N: Lots of confessions in that chapter! If you want to confess how you feel about that chapter, then please review!


	11. Hermione's choice

Chapter eleven - Hermione's choice

Hermione's POV

"What?!" I cried. "How can you make me choose?! That's not fair!" I yelled. "It's not fair that you like both of us, you have to choose. It's the only way" Ron replied, staring at the floor. I can't believe this is happening. What on earth am I supposed to do? I can't choose one of them and not the other; I care for them too much. 

"Look, can't I just have a little time to think about this?" I asked. "Yeah, sure" Ron said. Two seconds later… "Decided yet?" "Ron! You have to give me more time!" I said, slightly annoyed. "You've had plenty of time to think about this before while you've been stringing us two along!" Ron said. 

I looked down, Ron's words felt like I'd been stabbed by a knife. My very heart broke and scattered everywhere beyond repair. "How can you say that, Ron? I didn't ask for this to happen, surely you can understand that". "Yeah, sorry" Ron mumbled, but he didn't sound as though he meant it. 

"If you're going to take that tone with me Ronald Weasley, then I don't think I will give you an answer!" I said indignantly. Ron looked absolutely outraged. "Grow up Hermione! You can't just not give me an answer!" Ron yelled back, his ears reddening.  

"Me grow up!? What about you and the way you've been behaving recently? You ignore the fact that I'm a girl for years and then suddenly, when someone takes notice and asks me to the Yule ball, then suddenly you like me!" I replied, but I suddenly regretted my words. 

Ron looked at me with a serious expression. "How did you know I started liking you in our forth year?" he asked tonelessly. My eyes shifted nervously. "I just guessed… because you were all… annoyed and everything". But my expression and voice made it obvious that I was lying. 

"Is that the truth, Hermione?" Ron asked calmly. I looked at the floor and murmured: "No". "You heard me didn't you? When me and Harry were talking, you weren't asleep" Ron said. I was afraid to look up at him. "Please look at me" 

I lifted my head and stared into his deep blue eyes. "I'm sorry" I muttered. Ron's whole appearance seemed to change in a split second. His face turned a dark crimson, his eyes were bulging slightly and his fingers were writhing. 

"How could you!" Ron bellowed. "Why were you listening to my private conversations?! How dare you!" he yelled. "How dare I? What about you! Talking about me to Harry and not telling me why you hit Seamus and hiding you're feelings for me!" I retorted.  

"Oh! You always have to bring him up don't you? Precious Seamus, your lover boy!" Ron stated, rolling his eyes. "Don't talk about him like that!" I yelled. "Why? Does it bother you? Does it break your ickle heart if I speak wrongly of your _boyfriend?" _

Ron emphasised on the word 'boyfriend'. Everything went silent for a moment. "I've had enough of this; I want to go to bed!" I said with a hint of anger still visible in my voice. "We're not finished yet" Ron said. I looked at him angrily. "What do we have to talk about!?" I asked but already knowing the answer. "Who are you going to choose? Me or Seamus?" Ron asked. 

"What about me?" came a voice from behind us. We both turned around and there was Seamus who seemed confused. "Seamus…" I said softly. "Are you ok, Hermione?" Seamus asked, glancing at Ron. "I'm fine" I answered. 

"You're just in time, Seamus" Ron said. "Am I? What for?" Seamus asked, standing next to Hermione. "Hermione's about to choose who she wants to be with, you or me" Ron replied. "Oh… Are you sure about this?" Seamus asked me. I nodded. Now was the time for my choice, once and for all. Seamus or Ron…

No one's POV

Hermione grabbed the hand of one of the boys and lifted her head and smiled at him. 

Ginny's POV

I just stood there in complete shock. This has to be some kind of joke, Harry would never like me, there have been no signs that he does. _What about when he kissed you on the cheek _a voice said in my head. Maybe this was real, maybe he does like me. 

"What did you say?" I asked warily, walking closer to him. "I love you" Harry repeated. I looked into his amazing green eyes and believed him. I stepped closer and was only a few inches apart from him. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest as we both leaned in. 

Our lips met into a long, desirable kiss. The kiss was soft at first but then harder but then soft again. Harry's hands were on my waist and mine were stroking his back. We both parted our lips and let our tongues explore the other person's mouth. It seemed to go on for centuries until we finally broke apart. 

"I love you too, Harry" I whispered softly.

Ron's POV

And Seamus smiled back at her. My heart shattered and my eyes were brimmed with invisible tears. "I'm sorry, Ron" Hermione said softly. I felt a mixture of emotions, hurt, pain and anger. "How… c-could you c-choose him o-over me?" I spluttered. 

Hermione bowed her head and gave no reply. I wanted to run, to cry, to yell but I knew I couldn't do any of these things while I was still attached to Hermione. "I don't want to be near you!" I yelled, controlling my tears. "I don't want us handcuffed together!" I tried pulling on my wrist, trying to get free but to no avail. 

"Ron, please calm down" Hermione said. "Don't tell me what to do or how to feel!" I yelled back at her. "I think you better leave us for a while, Seamus" Hermione told him gently. "Ok" Seamus replied and he left through the portrait hole. 

Me and Hermione sat down again and there was silence. Hermione looked at me as though she wanted to explain but I couldn't take it any more. "I understand" I said. Hermione smiled at me warmly. "Let's go to bed" she replied. I nodded and we walked up the staircase to our room. 

When we were both ready and in bed I just lay there with my eyes open and staring. Instead of punching my pillow or cursing under my breath, tears splattered down my cheeks. That very night, I cried myself to sleep…

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A/N: *Sniffle sniffle* I'm so sorry I had to do that but I needed to. If you want to review and tell me how annoyed you are with me, I understand. Thank you. 


	12. Different emotions

Chapter twelve - Different emotions

Harry's POV

Ginny and I walked down the corridor hand in hand. I've had many moments which were the best of my life, overruling all of the bad ones and this was surely a great moment. After all that worrying and fretting about whether Ginny likes me and she does! 

When we kissed, I felt things I'd never felt before. Ginny makes me feel so alive and amazing by just being near to her. I looked next to me and stared lovingly at her. She is so perfect. Her hazel eyes are so deep and beautiful and the way her wonderful crimson hair cascades lightly on her shoulders is astounding.

Ginny looked back me and I felt myself blushing slightly. She smiled gently at me and moved closer to me. I felt like I could walk with her all night but then we arrived at the portrait of the fat lady. We said the password and entered through the portrait hole. The common room was deserted so I guess that means that everyone has gone to bed.

We stood in silence for a little while until Ginny spoke. "Well, I'm going to go to bed now, night". Then I felt her soft lips against my own and all of those feelings came rushing back to me. "Night" I replied when we parted lips. 

Ginny went up her staircase and I went up mine. I stopped at my dorm room door and looked at Ron and Hermione's. I wonder how their evening was…

Hermione's POV

I awoke the next morning and wondered why I felt so guilty. Then I remembered. I know I should feel happy now that me and Seamus are officially going out together now but I still feel awkward about what happened with Ron. 

I sat up in bed and looked over at Ron. He was still sleeping soundly with his chest rising and falling gently. I stood up and went to his bed. He looks so peaceful in his sleep. With a shaking hand, I gently touched his hair and let my hand rest on his cheek. I stayed like that for what seemed like a century until I heard a knock on the door. Ron shot up and climbed out of bed and we both went to answer the door. 

"Hello, Harry" I said, noticing who it was. "Hi, ready for breakfast?" Harry asked. I looked down at myself still wearing my pyjamas. "Obviously not" Harry said with a smirk. "We'll meet you at breakfast mate" Ron said in a croaky voice. "Ok, see you" Harry replied, closing the door. 

Ron and I got washed and dressed and made our way to breakfast. Ron seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me, which was understandable. We saw Harry and Ginny and I noticed that their hands parted when they saw us. I looked over at Ron but he didn't seem to have noticed, he looked as though he was in a world of his own. 

"Hiya" Ginny said to us both as we both took a seat next to each other. "Hi" I said brightly and Ron said it in a toneless voice. I started to butter my toast and saw Harry give Ron a concerned look. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" he asked. 

Ron shook his head and replied, looking at his lap. "Not hungry". Harry probably thought it was best not to ask and continued eating his breakfast. "Hello!" said a voice cheerfully. I looked up and saw Seamus beaming at us. "Hi" I replied, smiling and blushing. 

"Let's go to Herbology" Ron said suddenly, standing up. "Oh I-" I began but I was already pulled to my feet. "I'll see you there in a bit" said Harry. I nodded at him and was about to say bye to Seamus until I was dragged away by Ron.  

"Why did you do that?" I asked. Ron said nothing and carried on walking. "Please answer me, Ron" I tried again. He still was silent. I began to ask again but finally got a reply. "Don't" he said sternly but there was a quaver in his voice as though he was trying to control something. 

We were silent the whole way to Herbology. I spoke again when Harry arrived but kept quiet for the rest of the lesson, surprising quite a few people. My insides felt all twisted and it made me feel a little sick. Why did I feel this bad? Ron asked me to choose so I did and I chose the person I wanted to. Why is that so hard to understand? I think me and Seamus will be quite happy together but if Ron doesn't like that, then that's his problem, not mine. 

The rest of the day went by slowly. It was very strange barely answering in lessons but I didn't feel up to it today. Several teachers asked if I was ok but I just muttered that I was fine and just having an 'off day'. Harry seems to be aware that something is going on but he looks as though he has his own thoughts at the moment. 

Ginny's POV

Finally my lessons are over! But I don't have anywhere to go and seem to be just wandering the corridors not going in any particular direction, but I don't care because I'm in love heaven! I don't think I've ever been this happy, it's quite hard to describe my emotions at the moment but let me just say, they're great! 

Maybe I should go back to the common room and try and find Ron and Hermione. They seem a little distracted today but I can't figure out what's wrong. Suddenly, a hand appeared from no where and I was dragged into a broom cupboard. 

I couldn't see anything and became quite frightened. I heard a voice mutter: 'Lumos' and a little light appeared so I could see properly. I saw Harry's face smiling at me in the wand light. I smiled back at him as he pulled me closer and our lips locked again. 

After a while of more of this, we emerged from the cupboard slightly flustered. We linked arms and walked up the corridor together to the common room. "Ah, that was nice" I said cheerfully. "Yeah, aren't you glad I dragged you in there now?" Harry asked with a grin. "Of course. Harry, there's something I want to ask you about" I said. 

"Sure, what is it?" Harry asked. "Well, do you think we should tell people about us? Like Ron and Hermione?" I said, wondering what he'd say. "Yeah, that seems like a good idea, no point hiding it" Harry replied, kissing me softly on the lips. 

"We'd better tell Ron first though otherwise he'll be annoyed, you know what he's like" I said. "Yeah, good idea" Harry replied. At this point, we arrived at the portrait of the fat lady. We entered through the hole and my eyes scanned the common room. 

I saw Ron and Hermione sitting next to each other on chairs. Hermione was reading a book and Ron was staring blankly at a piece of paper in his hands. We walked towards them, taking a deep breath and was about to say something until… we noticed Ron's expression. 

His face showed a mixture of different emotions but it was plain to see he was deeply hurt and upset. His blue eyes were red as though he'd been crying and it seemed as though he hadn't smiled all day. I looked over at Harry who wore the same concerned expression as I did. 

We walked forward and our hands parted. I think we both mentally agreed that now was not a good time to tell him. "You ok Ron?" Harry asked. Ron looked up at us with his troubled expression. He said nothing and merely handed Harry the piece of paper he'd been staring at. 

Ron's POV

I gave Harry the note explaining everything about Hermione and Seamus. He gave it to Ginny to read and once she had, she looked at me with deep concern. "I'm so sorry" Harry mouthed. When Hermione wasn't looking, Ginny gave me a quick hug. 

Half an hour later, the four of us made our way to the Great Hall for dinner. I was feeling slightly more cheerful thanks to Harry and Ginny but I wasn't sure how long it would last. When we entered the Great Hall, I noticed with disgust that Seamus was there. 

He walked over to Hermione, ignored me and gave her a passionate kiss right in front of me. Quite a few people turned around to have a look and were quite stunned. I heard Parvati whisper to Lavender: "I always thought that Ron and Hermione would get together". 

My good mood was thwarted and I felt a huge wave of jealousy. I felt like punching Seamus again but I knew it would cause a scene and I didn't want that. 

When their lips parted, Seamus gave me a disgusting smirk. Harry noticed it as well and stared daggers at Seamus, Hermione didn't seem to notice. We went to our table and ate and I sat there for the second time watching Hermione and Seamus all over each other. 

Harry and Ginny looked disgusted and kept giving me sympathetic glances. I wish they wouldn't though, it's nice of them and everything but it makes me feel pathetic and that I need pity. Finally, Hermione had finished eating (I actually ate this time) and we got up to leave. 

When we got to the door, I saw someone I really didn't want to talk to, Malfoy. "So Mudblood, you've got yourself a boyfriend. But Seriously, Finnigan? That's just vile. Even Weasley here would have been a little better, seeing as he's a pure blood. Even if he's not a very good one" Malfoy sneered, looking at me with his grey eyes lit with a malicious delight. 

Malfoy looked at me as though he was searching for something written across my face. "Well, well. It seems that Weasley thinks he would have been better with Granger too. Is ickle Ronnie jealous?" Malfoy mocked. Crabbe and Goyle laughed hysterically which was quite alarming. 

Malfoy looked at them and raised his eyebrows and they stopped. Everyone looked at me expectantly as though they thought I'd punch Malfoy, or worse. I looked at Hermione who seemed concerned and I did something which surprised even me, I walked away without so much as trying to harm Malfoy. 

I just couldn't do it. I didn't feel enough anger in me to and besides, he was right. What would be the point in doing something to him if for once in his existence, he knew the truth. Hermione was dragged along with me as I walked away but she stopped me at the top of the stairs, the very same place I saw her and Seamus kissing. 

"Ron, are you ok?" she asked timidly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it" I lied. "Good. Let's go to the common room" Hermione replied. But I couldn't move. I just stood there staring at the floor with tears starting to form in my eyes. "Are you sure you're ok?" Hermione asked worriedly. I looked up at her. "Yeah" I said. "Just great". 

But truthfully I don't feel great, I don't feel great at all. 

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A/N: Hello! Thank you for all of your reviews but please carry on! There's still a few more chapters to go but until then, c ya! 


	13. Three's a crowd

Chapter thirteen – Three's a crowd 

Harry's POV

The next morning, when I was washed and dressed, I made my way to Ron and Hermione's room. I knocked softly on the door in case they were still asleep, but a few seconds later, they opened the door. "Hello Harry" Hermione said cheerfully. Ron said hi as well but with less enthusiasm. 

Hermione looked at him with a look of great curiosity on her face. Not wanting Ron to become upset, I quickly began to talk. "Come on, let's go to breakfast" I said. They both nodded and we walked down the staircase to the common room. 

Ginny was there waiting for us. She smiled at us and I felt myself blush slightly. At that moment, I wished I could walk right up to her and kiss her and hug her but obviously I couldn't because Ron and Hermione didn't know about us yet. 

The four of us walked down to breakfast and took our usual seats with Ron and Hermione next to each other and me and Ginny opposite them. I was just about to start on my bacon when I heard someone clink their goblet and clear their throat. 

I looked over at the professors table and saw Dumbledore standing there, goblet in hand and waiting for everyone to hush. When all was quiet, he began to speak.

"Thank you. I have two announcements to make before you all rush off to lessons. First of all, I would like to remind third years and above that there is another Hogsmeade trip on Christmas Eve". "How could I forget?" Ron muttered bitterly. 

"And secondly" Dumbledore continued, smiling around the room. "There is also a Christmas ball on Christmas day and I am hoping that it will be a great success" Dumbledore took his seat and let everyone talk amongst themselves. 

To my surprise, I saw Ron smile. Whilst Ginny and Hermione were talking, Ron leaned over the table to whisper to me. "This will be great; I can have Hermione to myself for the whole evening. It's not very likely that Seamus will want to go with her if I'm there is it?" I looked at Ron with an unsure expression. 

"But he's coming with you to Hogsmeade, how is this any different?" I asked. "Well, how can he dance and enjoy himself with Hermione while I'm there? It's just not possible" Ron replied, looking the most cheerful I'd seen him in days. 

But a great doubt was in my mind. What if Seamus did want to go with Hermione? That would be an awful evening. I was snapped out of my thoughts by Ron. "Come on mate, we have Defence against the dark arts". 

We took our seats at the back and waited for Professor Sapphira to arrive. She was actually quite a good teacher but no one could ever replace Remus. "Hello class" Sapphira said brightly. "Because it is Christmas quite soon and this is your last day of lessons before the holidays, I thought we'd study a small, interesting creature".

She brought out a cage and inside was a small pixie. Everyone in the class gasped and hid behind their books. Sapphira furrowed her brow in confusion. "What is the matter with you lot?" she asked. Hermione raised her hand. 

"Yes, Hermione" Sapphira said politely. "Well, in our second year. We studied Pixies and it wasn't a pretty situation". I thought that was clearly an understatement, it was chaotic. 

"Their only pixies, how can they be so much trouble? There's a simple spell to make them tame" Sapphira answered. Hermione raised her hand again. "Hermione?" Sapphira asked. "Our teacher wasn't what you'd call qualified" Hermione said. "Oh, who was it?" Sapphira asked. "Gilderoy Lockhart" Hermione replied. 

"Oh, him. Isn't he in St Mungo's?" Sapphira asked. Most of us nodded. "Ah well, I can assure you all I am quite qualified and will not let this pixie harm you". She let the Pixie out of the cage and the class winced. I heard Sapphira mutter: _Ancora. _

I looked up and saw the pixie quite still and calm looking. Sapphira held the pixie in the palm of her hand and brought it around the room to show everyone. "First of all, I am going to teach you how to calm a pixie down. Take out your wands and repeat after me _Ancora". The rest of the class repeated it. _

The rest of the lesson went by smoothly. (A/N: I know pixies seem easy to a sixth year class but it's the last day so they've got to have a little fun haven't they?) By the end of the lesson, they knew how to handle pixies and other important facts. 

"Thank you class you have done well today. Next lesson after the holidays we'll be learning about Nundu's but we will not to be seeing a real one for safety reasons. Have a nice holiday!"  

No one's POV

The next week passed by and already Christmas seemed to be making an appearance. The snow outside went up to the ankles and people were already planning to go home. Quite a few people decided to stay because of the Christmas ball but also because Hogwarts was magnificent at Christmas. 

The morning of Christmas Eve approached and Ron seemed to be in a rotten mood again. "Hermione, do we really have to go to Hogsmeade?" he asked her at breakfast that morning. 

"Yes, Ron. We need to go Christmas shopping you know" Hermione replied. "But I've done most of it already, can't we just stay behind?" Ron asked. Hermione was still final with her answer but couldn't work out the real reason Ron didn't want to go. That reason was because Seamus was coming. 

Seamus and Hermione's relationship was slowly building into something amazing, much to Ron's annoyance. But it would seem to someone who was surveying them closly that Hermione seemed to be enjoying it more than Seamus. 

Sure he kissed her and hugged her a lot but that only seemed to happen when there was a lot of people around. "He's an exobicianist you know" Ron whispered to Harry at breakfast when Seamus sat down and kissed Hermione's cheek. "His just trying to show off that he has a girlfriend". 

"Are you saying that because it's obvious or because you're jealous?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows. "Both" Ron muttered, stirring his cornflakes. 

Hermione's POV

Ah, another Christmas to look forward to. But a Hogsmeade trip to dread. I don't think it is a good idea that Seamus comes with me and Ron, I know there will be conflict and I'm going to be stuck in the middle of it all. 

We walked past a disgruntled Filch who was ticking off names on a piece of parchment. Me, Ron and Seamus walked by with no problem and made our way to Hogsmeade. Harry told us he wasn't going to Hogsmeade but it was so obvious he wanted to go with Ginny. 

I can't believe Ron hasn't figured it out yet, it's so obvious. I wonder why they haven't told him, who knows! We entered Hogsmeade and began shopping at once. I dragged the boys into a dress robes shop and made Ron stand outside the dressing room curtain while I changed. It was quite difficult changing when I'm handcuffed to him but I managed. 

I tried on about four dress' and found the perfect one but hid it from view from Ron and Seamus, they'd see it tommorow. I thought the day was going along ok but of course I was wrong. While we were walking past a big group of sixth years, Seamus stopped me and Ron and leant in to kiss me. 

Before our lips had even touched, Ron walked forwards, dragging me with him. "Ron!?" I said annoyed. "Oh I'm sorry, I couldn't understand why we had to stop" he replied. The rest of the day went by like that. Seamus put his arm around me so Ron put his arm around me, knocking Seamus' off saying I had a feather on my shoulder. 

Whenever we got close, Ron would cough really loudly and distractedly so we wouldn't be able to do anything. By the end of the day, I was quite annoyed with him. 

Ginny's POV

Me and Harry walked around Hogsmeade hand in hand without a glance from anyone and you know why that was? We were invisible. I'd never been under the invisibility cloak before but it was quite enjoyable. We could do whatever we wanted without looking over our shoulders to check that Ron wasn't there. 

We tripped up a few people, mainly Malfoy. He seemed quite annoyed when he'd tripped up for the fifteenth time and had no idea what he was tripping over. We were laughing so much when he started getting all flustered and scared. 

People around us could hear the laughter but had no idea where it was coming from which kind of freaked them out, which made us laugh even more. I don't think I'd ever had such a fun day before. Me and Harry had tickling fights and we kissed everywhere we could and it was different and exciting. I love having a boyfriend. 

Ron's POV

"Isn't there some way we can get rid of him?" Seamus whispered to Hermione. "I can hear what you're saying!" I said indigantly. Hermione and Seamus ignored me and continued talking as though I wasn't there. "I told you Seamus, we're handcuffed together and there's nothing I can do about it" Hermione replied. 

"Oh yes, the handcuffs which your little friends put on you. It doesn't seem very believable you know. How do I know if you didn't put the handcuffs on yourself?" Seamus asked, becoming quite angry. "Seamus please believe me I didn't" Hermione replied. "Whatever. I'm going back to the castle, I've had enough of the pair of you for one day" Seamus said, walking off. 

Well, good riddence I say! But Hermione didn't seem to think so. "This is all your fault!" she yelled angrily. "My fault? How is it my fault? Seamus is the one who stormed off" I retorted. "Because of you and the way you've been behaving today" Hermione replied. 

I laughed slightly. "Can't he take a joke? If there's anyone I hate, it's people who don't know how to have a laugh". Hermione rolled her eyes at me and dragged me back to the castle. I did feel slightly guilty though for making her so stressed and angry. 

When we arrived back in the common room, I decided to appoligise. "Look Hermione, I'm sorry I got you all stressed out today but you can understand can't you?" I asked. She looked at me searchingly. "Yes, I suppose so" she replied, sighing. "Good, so you forgive me?" I said, giving her my puppy dog eyes. "Yes, Ron. I forgive you" she replied, rolling her eyes. 

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A/N: Another chapter down! Please review.


	14. Revelations

Chapter fourteen – Revelations 

No one's POV

The snow fell upon the ground and the wind blew it in all directions. Snowflakes floated gently in the air and fell onto Hagrids cabin. Inside the castle, in a bedroom and sleeping soundly in their beds, Ron and Hermione slept without any idea what today would bring. Awaking from a deep dream, Hermione opened her eyes and yawned.

Hermione's POV

I looked next to me and saw Ron sleeping peacfully. I smiled at him warmly, glad that he didn't know I was watching him sleeping. I tapped him on the arm and he blearily opened his eyes. "Hello 'Mione" he said sleepily. I smiled at him before I answered. 

"Hi, merry chrismas" I said. He smiled back at me and we both sat up and noticed presents at the end of our bed. I looked over at the door and saw Harry standing there smiling about something. I jumped when I noticed him, had he been there the whole time? What if he saw me staring at Ron while he slept? I felt myself blush with embarasment. Harry noticed this and raised his eyebrows. 

"Hello, I have presents for both of you. I've opened most of mine already" Harry said cheerfully. I grabbed a nearby parsel and un wrapped it. I peered at the card and noticed it was from my parents. Inside was a pair of gorgeous black jeans with silver studs and a turquiose strappy top. 

"Wow" I muttered. "Those are quite cool 'Mione" Ron said, opening a present which looked like another Wealsey jumper. "These are from me" Harry said pointed at two parcels on mine and Ron's bed. He sat down on my bed and seemed to be searching for something in his pocket. I opened Harry's present and saw that it was a book with the label: _Advanced spells for advanced learners. _

"Thank you, Harry" I said, hugging him. "Here's yours" I added, handing him his present. While he was unwrapping it, I looked over at Ron who was turning the pages of a book called _Quidditch teams_ I knew it was from Harry. 

I picked up a parcel from on my dresser and threw it onto his lap. Ron looked up at me and grinned. He opened it and his jaw fell. I'd given him chudley cannon robes. He stood up and came over and hugged me saying his thanks while he did so. I envelped his warmth and smiled to myself. 

"Here you go" Ron said, handing me a small parcel. I opened it and noticed a box, I opened the box and was stunned to see what was inside. There was a silver, heart shaped pendent. I opened it and saw miniture pictures of me and Ron and me, Ron and Harry. "Thank you so much" I said breathlessly. Ron smiled at me and I saw his ears go red. 

"Here's your present Harry" Ron said, handing him a parcel. Harry un wrapped it and there in his palm was a snitch. But it wasn't the normal school ones, it was a little larger. "Thanks, Ron" Harry said, staring at the snitch in amazement. 

After more presents were un wrapped, we decided to get ready for breakfast. Harry was about to leave to the common room when he came back through the door. "I think these are for you" he said, handing me a bunch of flowers and chocolates. I read the card and smiled. "Their from Seamus".

"What is it with that guy and flowers?" I heard Ron mutter. Normally I would have had a go at him for it but I was feeling quite happy with him today because he gave me the best present I'd ever had. 

Harry's POV

I walked down the staircase and saw Ginny waiting for me with a present in her hand. I kissed her lightly on the lips and withdrew her present from my pocket. We both exchanged gifts and I saw mine was a digital watch. (A/N: I know, you can't have electronical devices inside Hogwarts but if JK can do it, why can't I?) 

I thanked her and placed it around my wrist and looked up and saw her staring with awe at the present I'd gotten her. It was a silver necklace with a blue crystal inside. I was worried about whether she'd like it but judging by her face expression, it looked like she did. 

"Oh, Harry. It's beautiful" Ginny sighed with adoriation. "I was worried you wouldn't like it" I replied shyly. "Why wouldn't I?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows. She pulled me close to her and gave me a long, deep kiss. 

I heard some voices aproaching and me and Ginny broke apart unwillingly. Ron and Hermione appeared unaware of what they had alomost walked in on. "Hey, ready for breakfast?" Ron  asked. Then he looked at our faces and frowned slightly. 

"Why are you two red?" he asked suspiciously. "No reason" me and Ginny said in union. Ron seemed satisfied with the answer and the four of us walked to breakfast. 

We took our usual places and I'd just started on my toast when Seamus walked over. "Hello everyone!" he said cheerfully, sitting next to Hermione and giving her a kiss on the cheek, to Ron's disgust. I suddenly felt really awkward and tense. I felt a hand in mine and looked up at Ginny who was gazing at me and smiling. I smiled back and squeezed her hand gently. 

"Did you like my present?" Seamus asked Hermione. "Yeah, it was lovely" Hermione said staring at Seamus as though he was a god. Ron was still looking at Seamus with atmost disgust on his face and he was shaking his head. 

I alomost started laughing but controlled myself before people got suspicious. I looked over at the door and saw a big group of Ravenclaws walk in. Seamus seemed to notice them too and put his hand around the back of Hermione's neck and started kissing her. 

He broke away quicker than I think he intended. He lifted a necklace so it was in view and frowned. "Who gave you that?" he asked, trying to look calm. "Uh... I... um" Hermione stuttered very red in the face. "I gave it to her" Ron said with confidence. 

Seamus glared at him slightly but Hermione didn't notice. I looked at Ginny who wore the same worried expression as me. We always do seem to feel the same in these situtations don't we? "Oh, well you would wouldn't you?" Seamus snapped at Ron. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron replied, his ears slightly red. "You know what I mean" Seamus retorted. He rose from the table and kissed Hermione again but with a bit more feeling this time. When he broke away, he raised his eyebrows at Ron who looked at him with loathing. 

Once Seamus had left, there was an awkward silence. "So... nice toast huh?" I said radomly. Everyone looked at me with a strange expression on their faces. 

Hermione's POV

The day went by as usual except with a lot of christmas spirit. I'm really looking forward to the ball tonight and keep checking on my dress robes to make sure their still alright. There were a lot of snowball fights today and by the end of it, I'd been pelted with so many snowballs, my body felt like ice. 

Seamus joined in with us and kept me slightly warm but wrapping his arms around me. Ron looked at us strangely but I couldn't quite place what emotions he was feeling. By four o'clock, I decided to start getting ready for the ball, Ginny decided to as well. 

Ron had to come with me and was rather reluctant to leave. I got ready with Ron blindfolded and complaining. Once I'd done my hair, make up and gotten dressed, I fianlly allowed Ron to take off the blindfold. 

Ron's POV

She looked amazing. Her hair was sleek with gold sparkles which matched her golden dress and made of what could only be silk. She had glitter near the corners of her eyes and she had glistening lip gloss applied to her gorgeous lips. 

"Do I look ok?" Hermione asked nervously. "You look extraordinary" I replied in awe. Hermione smiled at me. I was already dressed in deep red robes and my hair was gelled. "Shall we go?" I asked, offering her my arm. She accepted it and we walked down the staircase together. 

I had a big smile on my face but my smile fell when I saw who was waiting for us at the bottom of the staircase. 

"Hello my lovely" Seamus said, taking Hermione's hand and kissing it. Hermione blushed and I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe it! She was going with me and Seamus, how could she do that? I saw Ginny and Harry sitting together in deep conversation. 

Harry was wearing bottle green robes and Ginny was wearing periwinkle blue. "Shall we go?" Seamus asked. Hermione nodded and I grunted in agreement. We walked down to the Great Hall together with Hermione and Seamus smiling at each other. I just walked along side them with my smile lost and forgotten. 

We entered the Great Hall and it was like stepping into a Christmas card. Fake snow fell from the enchanted ceiling and the decorations were amazing. A giant Christmas tree was in the corner of the room and about twenty round tables were all spread across the left side of the room. 

I must admit, I didn't have a good time. Hermione and Seamus kept going up to dance together and I was dragged along with a scowl on my face. After about an hour, I was in deep boredom. Hermione, Seamus and I sat at a round table until Seamus decided to get some drinks. 

Harry's POV

Ginny looked like an angel. It was a magical evening but it was extremely difficult to dodge out of Ron's way. It took every inch of me to control myself from kissing her. She seemed to feel the same and we suddenly decided we'd had enough. 

We glanced around the room and made sure no one was watching and we leant in and had a long, deep kiss. 

Ron's POV

I sat there gazing around the room watching all the sweet couples, I envied them. I saw a particularly cute couple kissing in the corner but I couldn't see their faces. Then they turned and I realised who it was… Harry and Ginny. 

I jumped up, dragging a disgruntled Hermione with me and rushed over to them and broke them apart. They both looked at me with wide eyes. "Ron!" Harry said in shock. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" I yelled, glaring at them both. 

"Look, calm down Ron" Ginny said. I controlled my anger enough to say. "Why didn't you tell me you two were going out together?!" I asked angrily. "We wanted to, but we thought it wasn't the best time" Harry replied, glancing quickly at Hermione. 

"Come on, Hermione. Let's dance" Seamus said, taking Hermione's hand. I glared at Harry and Ginny and was steered away by the couple. After watching them dance, I decided I'd had enough. "May I cut in?" I asked innocently. 

Seamus glared at me but agreed and I put my hand on Hermione's waist and one in her hand. I loved being this close to her but my time was cut short. "I think that's enough" Seamus said, cutting in. I stepped away from her, annoyed. 

The rest of the evening was awful. Seamus went away again when me and Hermione decided to take a break. Hermione gazed around in a different direction to me. My eyes scanned the room and I saw a few yards ahead of me, Seamus flirting with a Ravenclaw girl. 

He kissed her and walked away. I can not believe that slime ball! How dare he kiss another girl when he has Hermione? The most amazing girl in the world. A sudden thought struck me and I looked at Hermione and knew I had to tell her. "Hermione, I just saw something you're not going to like". She looked at me cautiously. "What?" Hermione asked. "It's Seamus, I just saw him, he was kissing another girl. I'm so sorry". I expected her to be upset, hurt or maybe even grateful but I never expected her to do what she did. 

"How dare you accuse him of that?! Just because you're jealous of us doesn't mean you can make up stories!" she yelled. "But it's the truth! You've got to believe me" I pleaded. "Well I don't" Hermione snapped. Seamus arrived and Hermione told him she'd like to leave. 

While we walked, I whispered to Seamus: "I saw you with that girl". Seamus smiled at me. "And?" he asked innocently. "What about Hermione?" I whispered. "She's just a bit of fun" Seamus replied with a smirk. 

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A/N: Hi! Sorry that it took so long but I've had loads of homework to do. Please review! 


	15. Realisation

Chapter fifteen - Realisation

Ginny's POV

I looked at Harry apprehensively. He looked very pale and his mouth was open slightly. "Are you ok, Harry?" I asked nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine" Harry choked out. He gazed out at Ron who was now dancing with Hermione, at least someone was happy. 

"It's going to be ok, he'll forgive us" I said soothingly. Harry looked at me and gave a small smile. "I hope so". He kissed my temple lightly, took my hand and led me out of the hall. 

We walked outside Hogwarts and Harry led me to the lake. He sat down and offered me to sit with him. I sat down but then Harry lay back so I laid back and put my head on his chest with his arms around me, supporting me. 

He kissed my head softly and pulled me closer to him. We lay there for what seemed like hours. Watching the lake and hearing the water trickle gently. 

Hermione's POV

I walked back to the common room with Ron and Seamus, still fuming. How could Ron make something up like that? It was the cruellest thing he's ever said to me and I never thought he'd stoop that low. "Hermione…" Ron began. I looked at him searchingly in his deep blue eyes, which seemed to have small tears trying to leak out. 

He looks so innocent when he does that. I felt my anger ebbing away and was about to reply until Seamus started to speak. "Hey, we're here". I looked up and there was the portrait of the fat lady. Seamus said the password and crawled through the hole. I began to follow after him but I was pulled back by Ron. 

"Hermione, please listen to me" he said pleadingly. "Ok" I replied, sighing. "You know that I'd never do or say anything to hurt you" he said softly. I felt my anger returning back to me. "Well, it's a bit late to say that. You already have hurt me you asshole" I replied, dragging him through the portrait. 

Seamus was waiting on the other side and had a suspicious look on his face when Ron and I entered. I saw him glare slightly at Ron before he kissed me on the cheek but thought nothing of it. When he had left up the staircase, Ron turned to me again and opened his mouth. 

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say, Ron" I said, taking him up to our room. 

Harry's POV

Ginny and I went back to our own rooms after a while. I got ready for bed and climbed inside. I lay my head back on my pillow and smiled in spite of everything that had happened. I still smelled like strawberries which was what Ginny always seemed to smell like. 

I wished that Ron would just listen to me and Ginny but I guess I wouldn't really know what to say. I suppose I'd better speak to him tomorrow morning about it…

Ron's POV

I awoke the next morning and the feelings I'd experienced the previous night came flooding back to me and landed in my heart and the pit of my stomach. I looked over at Hermione who was already awake. I tried to say something but she cut me off again. 

"Let's just get dressed". We got dressed and walked down the staircase into the common room. The first people I saw there was Harry and Ginny. I thought I'd just ignore them but of course, Hermione went over to talk to them. 

"No offence Hermione but we really need to talk to Ron" Ginny said worriedly. "Maybe I don't want to talk to you" I replied stubbornly. "Look mate, Ginny and I care deeply about each other but if you're not happy about us being together then we're finish it for you" Harry said. 

I looked at them pitifully. They both looked stressed and tired. I looked down at their hands and saw that they were entwined tightly. I wanted to say that I hated them together and that they should stop seeing each other but I just couldn't. I know I'll regret thinking this but they looked perfect together.

"Do you love each other?" I asked them. They both nodded truthfully. "I'm not saying I'm thrilled about this but if anyone was to go out with Ginny, I'm glad it was you Harry" I said, smiling at them. They smiled back at me and both hugged me tightly saying their thanks. 

Making two people that happy did cheer me up slightly.  Hermione pretty much ignored me all day but Harry and Ginny were comforting. I told them all about the thing with Seamus and that Ravenclaw girl and they believed me. 

But how could I make Hermione believe me? There has to be a way to prove it to her, she is going to feel so guilty when she finds out that I was telling the truth. But that didn't make me feel any better; I would never want her to feel bad. 

It makes me feel sick in the stomach every time I see Seamus and Hermione together. I feel like I could just hit Seamus over and over again for hurting my Hermione. My? No, that's not right. She'll never be mine, even if her and Seamus did break up. It's just one of those things which were never meant to be. 

The four of us visited Hagrid today and wandered around a lot. I think it'll be better when we get back to lessons, at least then I'll have something other than Hermione to concentrate on. The slightest touch from her sends shivers up my spine and that happens often, being handcuffed to her and all. 

That evening after dinner, Hermione and I walked back to the common room to see Harry and Ginny looking over something in the corner, both of them had pale faces and shocked expressions. "What's the matter?" I asked as me and Hermione walked over to them. 

They were startled to see Hermione and tried to block whatever they were looking at from my view. "What's that?" Hermione asked, pointing at the desk. Harry's arm moved slightly and I saw that it was the Marauders map. 

Hermione and I took seats near them and I looked over at the map. Everything seemed normal except when I looked closely at the library, I saw two small dots extremely close to each other and they were labelled 'Seamus' and 'Rachel'.  

Panic struck me and I looked up and Harry and Ginny who seemed as scared as I was. "Come on you three, what are you looking at?" Hermione asked curiously. "Nothing" the three of us answered quickly. Hermione stared at us suspiciously. 

"Ok, I need to go to the library. Come on Ron" Hermione said. "What?! Why do you need to go there?" I asked, standing up the same time Hermione did. "I have homework to do" Hermione answered. "But it's the holidays, can't you take a break?" I said, fear visible in my face. 

Hermione raised her eyebrows at me. "Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked. I shook my head and then in one swift movement, Hermione grabbed the Marauders map. "No!" me, Harry and Ginny yelled. 

Hermione stared long and hard at the map and then she lowered it from her gaze, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Seamus…" she whispered. "I'm so sorry 'Mione" I said kindly. She snapped out of her trance and rushed away, dragging me with her. 

We climbed through the portrait hole and she dragged me down the corridors in the direction of the library. "I don't think this is such a good idea" I said. Hermione ignored me and carried on walking. 

We arrived at the library and there was Seamus and Rachel kissing. Hermione rushed over to them and dragged them apart and slapped Rachel around the face. "Ow! What was that for you bitch?" Rachel asked, before she rushed off in the other direction. 

Seamus smirked slightly. "I'm so sorry you had to find out like this, Hermione" he said mockingly. "How could you do this to me?" Hermione shrieked. Seamus smiled again in a horrible way. "It just wasn't working out, sorry" Seamus replied, touching her cheek. He stalked away looking very pleased with himself. 

I stared at Hermione who had tears streaming down her cheeks. There was silence for a while except for the muffled sniffs from Hermione. "I wish you hadn't found out like this" I said. Hermione looked at me and flung her arms around me. 

I returned the hug and embraced her warmness. "I am so sorry Ron for everything I did or said to you. You were just trying to look out for me and I threw it all in your face. Can you forgive me?" Hermione asked, breaking away from the hug. 

"Of course I will" I answered. "I don't deserve you" Hermione sniffed. I pulled her into another hug and kissed her head gently. "Yes you do. I feel lucky just by knowing you" I replied. Hermione hugged me tighter and cried softly onto my shoulder. 

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A/N: Another chapter finished and only two more left! Please review and thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. 


	16. Agony Uncle

Chapter sixteen – Agony Uncle

Ginny's POV

Harry and I waited on tender hooks for Ron and Hermione's return. "Do you think Hermione's ok?" I asked worriedly. "Yeah, she'll be fine" Harry said reassuringly. "She has Ron doesn't she?" I nodded my head and stared apprehensively at the portrait hole. 

I really could hit Seamus right now. How dare he cheat on Hermione like that? I've been going over that in my head since Ron told me but for Hermione to find out this way is just horrible. Suddenly, I heard someone scrambling through the portrait hole. I sat up alert and ready, expecting to see Ron and Hermione. But it wasn't them, it was Seamus. 

I sprung up at the same time as Harry and he walked over to him. "I hope you feel awful inside right now" I sneered at him. Seamus smiled at me horribly. "Actually, I feel quite good. It's such a relief to have Hermione away from me, she was so clingy" Seamus replied with a strange twinkle in his eyes. 

"Hermione clingy? What about you? You kissed her at every opportunity and wouldn't let any guy get too close to her" Harry said angrily. "Oh no Harry, you are mistaken. Do you think I enjoyed kissing her all the time? I mean, it was fun to begin with but then it just got boring. Also, let any guy get close to her? What about Ron being attached to her? I think I was quite understanding about that situation. Unlike you two, who would let their own friends suffer like that?" Seamus said, sighing and shaking his head. 

Harry and I stood there glaring at him. Hot anger was bubbling inside of me and it was extremely difficult to contain. "Get out of here" I snarled. "Don't worry Ginny; I don't want to stay talking to you two. I have more interesting things to do. Lavender! Wait up" Seamus said, strutting over to a giggling Lavender. 

When Seamus and Lavender had left upstairs doing who knows what, Hermione and Ron appeared from the portrait hole. Hermione looked dreadful. Her eyes were red and swollen and she appeared to being shaking slightly. 

I rushed over to her and flung my arms around her neck. I could hear her sniffling into my shoulder so I hugged her tighter. Once we had broken apart, there was an awkward silence. 

"I think we'd better go bed" Ron said suddenly. The three of us nodded and Ron and Hermione went up the staircase to their room. I was about to go up my own staircase when Harry grabbed my arm. I turned to face him and he pulled me in for a hug. 

Harry hugged me quite tightly and kissed the top of my head. "You know I'd never cheat on you or hurt you ever" Harry whispered. I broke away from the hug to speak to him properly. "Yes, I know you'd never. I wouldn't cheat on you either" I replied, putting my hand on his cheek. 

Harry leant in and gave me a soft kiss on my lips. After a little while, we broke apart. "Goodnight" I said softly, kissing his cheek. "Night" Harry replied as I turned and walked up my staircase. 

I opened my dorm room door and got dressed for bed. I slid under my covers and closed my eyes. I heard a small knock on my door and got out of bed to answer it. The other girls in my dorm were fast asleep and didn't hear the knock unless they dreamt about it. 

I walked over to the door and opened it to see Harry standing there. I smiled at him in the darkness and he smiled back. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Well, I was about to go to sleep when I realised, I don't want to sleep alone". 

I felt a flutter in my stomach and my heart start pounding rapidly in my chest. "Come in" I answered simply. Harry entered and taking his hand, I led him over to my bed. Harry climbed inside and I closed the curtains and put a silencing spell around it before I got inside also. 

Harry put his arm around me and brought me closer to him so my head was lying on his chest, just like when we were by the lake. "I love being with you like this" I said softly. "Well, I love you" Harry said, kissing me gently on the lips. 

We snuggled together further under the covers and I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. This was what true happiness felt like. Harry and I drifted off to sleep in each others arms, which I wished every day could end like. 

Hermione's POV

Ron and I got dressed and slipped into our beds. "Thank you for being there for me Ron" I said quietly. "That's ok 'Mione. It's what I'm here for" Ron replied. I felt an icy stab to my heart when he spoke those words and began to cry again softly. 

"Hey, what's the matter?" Ron asked concerned as he turned on the light and sat next to me on my bed. I sat up also and rested my head on his shoulder. "Oh it's nothing really. It's just, Seamus used to say those kind of things to me sometimes. About how he'd always be with me to protect me and how much he cared for me" I replied, fresh tears falling down my cheeks.  

Ron hugged me gently and shushed me soothingly. "It's going to be ok. You may not feel like it now but you will get over this" Ron said kindly. "I did" he added in an undertone. I looked at him with concern and felt guilt running through me again. 

"I'm sorry" I said softly. "You don't need to apologise. It was your choice and I can't blame you for that". I smiled at him sweetly. "Was that a smile I just saw?" Ron said playfully, raising his eyebrows. I laughed slightly. "You always know what to say". 

I laid my head back onto my pillow in tiredness, but Ron was pulled down with me. "Sorry" I said, blushing slightly. "That's ok" Ron replied, taking my hand. "Let's just lie here for a while". I agreed and we lay there in silence, still holding hands. 

Ron's POV

I awoke the next morning and realised I was still in Hermione's bed and her head was on my shoulder. We must have fallen asleep like this! How awkward is it going to be when she wakes up? I'd better wake her now anyway. "Hermione" I said, touching her arm gently. She stirred and blearily opened her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily. "We fell asleep" I replied, expecting her to jump up and take her head off my shoulder quickly but she didn't. 

"Oh" she replied. "Never mind". Never mind? What did she mean by that? Did that mean she liked sleeping in the same bed as me? Things were looking up.    

We got out of bed reluctantly and got dressed. "Ready for breakfast?" I asked. Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. We walked down the staircase together and searched the common room. "I wonder where Harry and Ginny are" I said curiously. 

Harry's POV

I woke up with Ginny lying next to me. I smiled to myself and woke her up. "Hello" she said sweetly. "Hi" I replied, kissing her. We sat up in bed and made sure no one was watching so I could sneak back to my room. Luckily, I went to sleep in my clothes so I wouldn't be going round the common room in my pyjamas. 

I was about to leave until one of Ginny's friends came out of the bathroom. "Hi Ginny, what's up?" her friend asked. "Oh, nothing Amy" Ginny replied innocently. "Why are you hiding behind the curtains?" Amy asked with curiosity visible in her voice. 

"I'm getting changed" Ginny replied coolly. "Ok, see you at breakfast" Amy replied. "Bye" Ginny said as Amy closed the door. Ginny and I started laughing in relief. "That was close" Ginny said in between giggles. 

"Yeah, I know. Great cover story by the way. 'Getting dressed'. I'd like to see you doing that" I said with a grin. Ginny opened her mouth in surprise and pounced on me and started tickling me. I laughed and began tickling her back, making her giggle once again. 

Ron's POV

"There you are!" I said as Harry and Ginny appeared from the girl's staircase. Hey, wait a minute… "Oh, hey Ron" Ginny said awkwardly. "Don't you hey Ron me! Why did Harry just come down from your staircase?" I asked. "And why Harry, are you wearing the same clothes from yesterday?"

Harry and Ginny both blushed but Harry replied. "That's one of my disgusting secrets Ron, I'm extremely unhygienic. I went up to Ginny's room to see if she was ready for breakfast" Harry replied. I could hear Hermione stifling her laughter. 

"Right…" I said disbelievingly and cocking an eyebrow. 

The four of us walked down to breakfast chatting joyfully until we bumped into Seamus at the door. "Hello Hermione" Seamus said smirking. My fists clenched slightly but I was dragged away from hitting Seamus by Hermione who walked away without saying a single word. 

We sat down at the table and Hermione looked down at her food. "Are you ok Hermione?" Ginny asked. "Yeah, I'm fine" Hermione replied, snapping out of her trance. "Are you going to eat anything?" Harry asked. "I'm not very hungry at the moment" Hermione replied, pushing her food away from her. 

The rest of the day followed this pattern. Hermione was quiet for most of the day and ate a little at lunch but not much. By the evening, she wasn't looking good at all. I couldn't bear seeing her like this and decided I'd better talk to her about it before we went to dinner. 

"Hermione look" I began as we both took seats by the fireplace. "I hate seeing you like this". Hermione stared at her lap while she replied. "Like what?" she asked. "You're in pain. You've barely ate today and you shake when you see Seamus. I'm not going to say that's wrong or you should just get over it because I know how it feels". 

Hermione looked up at me searchingly. "When you chose Seamus over me, it felt like my life was ending. I could barely eat and sleep just knowing someone else had you and it wasn't me. Everyday I saw you; it was hard to bear it. It was worse when you were with Seamus, I felt so jealous but I knew there was nothing I could do about it so I just had to put up with it. The only thought that got me through it was knowing you were happy; I love it when you feel happy because it makes me feel happy. But seeing you upset is not only painful for you, it's painful me too. I want you to know that I will always be here for you when you need me. Remember that".   

Hermione grabbed my hand and smiled at me. "Thank you" she said. I smiled back at her and pulled her to her feet. "Let's go to dinner". She nodded and we made our way to the Great Hall. 

We entered through the doors and heard roars of laughter coming from a group at the Gryffindor table. "I have girls coming out of my ears at the moment. They just can't keep their hands off me!" said a voice which I recognised as Seamus'. 

I expected Hermione to run out of the door but she held her head high and walked over to them. "Here's one of my adoring fans now!" laughed Seamus. I felt anger rising inside of me and looked at Hermione who seemed to be trying to stay calm. 

"Hey Seamus!" I said, striding forward with Hermione in tow. "Hello Ron! Hermione's knight in shining armour" Seamus said. "Better than being the dirty asshole who can't keep a relationship for longer than five minutes" I replied coolly.

"Well, you know me Ron! I like to get around a bit" Seamus said, standing up to face me. "I've noticed" a voice said which turned out to be Hermione. "So she speaks!" Seamus said triumphantly. "I do more than that" Hermione replied. She picked up a goblet of pumpkin juice and poured it over Seamus' head. 

Everyone roared with laughter as Seamus stood there, his smile gone and forgotten but replaced with a scowl. "How dare you" he snarled. "How dare I? I think I have the right to do that Seamus after what you put me through. You're not god's gift to women like you think you are. I'm going to make sure every girl knows what a slime ball you are" Hermione replied. 

Some people clapped and cheered as Seamus stalked away still dripping wet. "That was amazing" I said to Hermione in awe. "No Ron, you are" she replied, kissing my cheek. 

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A/N: Yay! I only have one chapter left! Sorry I haven't been able to update for a while but my computer wasn't working. Please review!


	17. Sorry

Chapter seventeen – Sorry

No one's POV

Many weeks had passed since the incident with Seamus and things started to get back to normal. Harry and Ginny were as happy as ever and Ron and Hermione were back to being friends who just happened to be attached to each other. 

"Do you think they'll ever separate us?" Ron asked Hermione one evening in late February. "They're going to have to eventually but I'm not really worried about it" Hermione replied and adding in her own thoughts: 'I'm not looking forward to when they do separate us'.  

Days went by and in that time, Ron and Hermione grew ever closer. The arguments between them had stopped since that fateful time back in December and they hadn't said a horrible word or phrase to each other since. 

Harry and Ginny seemed quite pleased with the way their relationship had progressed and spent a lovely afternoon discussing them under the warm sun, sitting by a grand oak tree. 

"You know what Harry" Ginny began as she settled her head against Harry's chest. "I don't think Ron and Hermione want to be separated". "I think you're right" Harry replied, sighing softly. "But it's going to happen eventually". 

"It's quite soothing now that they're not arguing anymore isn't it?" Ginny asked. "Yeah, I kind of miss it sometimes" Harry replied, trailing off into his own world. Ginny looked up at him and raised her eyebrows. "You can't be serious" she said, laughing slightly. "No Ginny, I can't be because I'm Harry". 

Harry and Ginny started laughing for a while but stopped so they could talk again. "Speaking of Sirius how is he?" Ginny asked. "He's fine. I'm really looking forward to staying with him over the summer. In fact, this is the first time I've ever looked forward to the holidays" Harry replied.

"Awww how sweet" Ginny said, pulling Harry in for a kiss. "So are your lips" Harry replied once they had broken apart. 

Hermione's POV

I woke the next morning to see Ron's face staring at me. "Like what you see?" I asked innocently. Ron blushed slightly but kept his cool manner that he had savoured. "Maybe. Why? Do you like me watching you?" he asked.  

"That's for me to know and for you to find out" I replied, sitting up. Ron did the same and we both got out of bed and found ourselves extremely close because our beds are only inches apart. I could feel Ron's hot breath against my cheek and I wished I could just kiss him right now. But what would be the point? He'd never like me now after everything that happened with Seamus. 

I sighed and looked at the floor. "What's wrong?" Ron asked in a concerned voice. "Oh nothing" I lied. I felt Ron's hand against my cheek as he lifted my head up so I was staring into his deep blue eyes. Hazel stared into blue and our mouths were only inches apart until…

"Hi, ready for breakfast?" a voice asked. Ron and I reluctantly turned our heads away from each other and looked over at the doorway to see Harry standing there with a smile on his face. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?" he asked, his smile faltering. 

"No, mate. You didn't. We'll see you in the Great Hall in a minute" Ron replied, stepping away from me. "Ok" Harry replied, failing to keep the disappointment out of his voice. It was obvious that Harry wanted me and Ron to be together, the same with Ginny but they shouldn't really keep there hopes up too much after the way Ron stepped away as though nothing had happened. 

Harry's POV

I closed the door behind me and hit myself on the forehead. "What an idiot" I muttered to myself. They almost kissed and I just had to walk in at that precise moment. "Who's an idiot?" a sweet voice asked from behind me. 

I turned around and saw Ginny. "Just me. Don't worry about it" I replied, taking her hand. "Ok, let's go to breakfast" Ginny said, leading me down the staircase. 

Ron's POV

Once Hermione and I were dressed, we made our way to the Great Hall for breakfast. While we walked, I looked over at Hermione and stared in awe at her beauty. Was this the same eleven year old girl that I had hated? Was it the same person whom I'd argued with in our 2nd and 3rd year? The same Hermione who had made me feel so jealous when she went to the ball with someone else? The amount of time we spent together at Grimmauld place and not once did I tell her how I felt. 

This was not the same Hermione and this wasn't the same me. I'm fed up of holding back and watching from a distance. At some point today, I'm going to tell her again that I love her and hopefully this time, she'll accept it and be with me. But I can only hope and wonder… 

The day dragged by but I never found the right opportunity to speak to Hermione. It wasn't until after dinner that evening that I decided that it was the right time. 

"Ginny and I are going for a walk" Harry announced as him and Ginny stood up. "Ok, see you in the common room later" I replied. Once they had left, I turned to Hermione. "Can we go somewhere quiet where we can talk?" I asked. "Sure" she replied and we both stood up and left the hall together. 

We stopped waking once we had turned a few corners just in case anyone came by to disturb us. I took Hermione's hand in my own and took a deep breath. "Hermione, there's something I've been meaning to tell you" I began, staring into her hazel eyes. 

"Ok Ron, what is it?" she asked. "Well, I know we've said our apologies over the whole thing with Seamus but I don't think we said it enough". "What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused. "Ever since we first met, we've argued and yelled at each other, sometimes for no reason at all. Well, I want to put all of that behind us. I'm sorry for every argument we've had, every tear shed over them and anything else bad that has happened between us". 

Hermione looked at me and smiled. "You're right Ron. We've caused each other pain over the last couple of years and well, I'm sorry for everything too". 

I suddenly felt a strange sensation around my wrist and I was sure Hermione felt it too. In a matter of seconds, it stopped. Hermione and I looked up at each other hopefully. We both stepped backwards as far as was necessary. We waited at the far end of the corridor and smiled at each other. 

"We're free!" Hermione yelled. "The handcuffs are gone!" I added. Instead of going our separate ways, we ran towards each other and flung our arms around the other person's neck and had a long meaningful hug. "Harry and Ginny must have removed them" Hermione said over my shoulder. "Yeah, how else could they have gone?" I replied. 

"I love you, Ron" Hermione said when we had broken apart. "I love you too" I replied. Our lips met in a spectacular and long awaited kiss. 

No one's POV

Watching at a distance were Harry and Ginny who were both smiling broadly. "We did it" Harry said breathlessly. "They're together at last" Ginny said. "Did they really think we'd removed the handcuffs? Have they learnt nothing about the power of forgiveness?" Harry said to Ginny. "Oh, I think they have. You know what Harry?" Ginny said, looking into Harry's green eyes. 

"I think they've became very attached over the last couple of months". 

THE END

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A/N: Well that's it! The story has ended. What did you think of it? Please review and tell me! 


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